


Distant Past

by Noxious_Photon



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Character Development, Crimes & Criminals, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Relationship(s), Romance, Spies & Secret Agents, Violence, WildeSavage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2018-10-01 22:52:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 55,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10202618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxious_Photon/pseuds/Noxious_Photon
Summary: Nick finds himself deciding to work with agent Jack Savage in a new unit that specializes in undercover infiltration and information gathering. But the fox soon finds out that this decision will change the course of his life along a different path then expected; a path filled with both tragedy as well as love.





	1. Tragedy and Friendship Part 1

The gazelle looked down at her note pad, taking a moment to recollect her thoughts before looking at the fox across from her.

"Okay, officer Wilde, I want you to once again, describe the events that happened to you las-"

"Oh come on Doc, how many times am I going to have to do this? I thought on my last day here I could just get a few words of warning, a little friendly slap on the wrist, I walk out of here and move on with life."

The female gazelle sighed.

"For the last, and very last time, Mr. Wilde, it's Mrs. Rosaria to you. If you cannot say that, then at least refer to me as Jessica."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Right... Jessica. Look, I've told you this story at least six times now, I've been here for multiple visits, and I'm really, genuinely, over it as much as a fox can be. I got better things in my life now, I've moved on to better pastures."

Nick put on a smug grin.

"You know, at this point, you've almost made me completely desensitized to telling you this rather personal story of mine, is that part of the plan? Make me perhaps just say it so many times I forget how tragic it is?"

Jessica took off her glasses.

"Look Nick, I know you're sick of talking about this. I know you seem almost entirely over what happened, and that's fantastic. My job is specifically to help people overcome their problems; but this is required as a last statement for my office, there's no getting around it. Perhaps if you hadn't in the past tried lying or feigning your way out of leaving early you wouldn't have to be here right now."

'Oh come on Do... Jessica. You know I'm not gonna try pulling that again, I was just being a well... stubborn fox." 

"I know you won't try to hide your emotions now; believe me, I was able to tell from the very beginning when you tried. However, I'm required to confirm it again as a final statement for my office, so please... Start from the beginning, go through the races, and you'll be out for good."

Nick closed his eyes, letting out a small sigh.

"Alright fine, I'll bite, so long as you keep your word. As you know, It started with Jack…"

* * *

"Alright officers, he should be coming down any minute now. I want everyone to be at full attention when he arrives. if you think you've been through hell and high water, you'd be wrong after meeting this mammal. Anyone of you in his position would have pissed their pants on the first two days of the job, and..."

The chief put on his reading glasses, scanning the papers in his hand.

"For I suppose reasons unknown, he has personally decided to come back to Zootopia, and work in a special forces sector of our station - which we haven't had until now. And, before any of you ask questions, its part of our new mayor's initiative for preventing some of the deeper crime that has taken a hold of our city due to the now infamous night howler case. Jack will tell you more of the details himself."

Nick looked over at his partner Judy, noticing that the bunny had an abnormally excited face on. Her eyes were open wide and her expression looked dumbly happy. in fact, it almost seemed like she couldn't stand still.

Nick cocked a confused eyebrow before leaning towards Judy. "If you get any more excited, I'm going to start to worry you'll literally hop right out of your spot. What's the deal with this Jack guy, anyways?"

"You don't know of Jack? I thought surely at some point I'd have mentioned him to you."

Nick pondered for a moment.

"Hmmm, nope, I don't recall his name being brought up at any point during your drunken escapades at the bar. Is he a past lover you're too ashamed to talk about, even when you're hammered?"

Judy rolled her eyes. "For your information, he's actually a bunny from my home town. Buuut we had never met, he's fairly older than me and left at an even younger age then I did; if I'm the first bunny ZPD officer, then he's the first bunny M16 agent. He aced his tests in almost every category, and has been known as one of the best agents around! Although he isn't too well known to the public eye for… reasons. Really, I only know about him due to some of my cousins; pretty inspirational, huh?"

"Hmmm, I suppose so..." Nick said with a tinge of jealousy.

"Hey, easy there slick, It isn't anything more than admiration, not that you really have anything to be jealous of. Just think of it like this... if It wasn't for him, I may not have gathered the courage to be here today, and so we may have never meet each other or become partners."

Nick let out a small chuckle.

"Well then, perhaps I'll have to thank him personally; just so long as you two don't _get_ personal."

Just then, a car drove up and parked in front of all the officers outside the ZPD building. A large, broad tiger in a suit and sunglasses popped out of the front of the car. He walked to the back of the black vehicle and opened up the door. Everyone on the force stood still, eagerly awaiting to see what Jack looked like.

Some were expecting a tall, muscular bunny that was 10 times the height of a normal rabbit. Some rumors said he was a part of some weird biological experiment to make the ultimate secret agent; that there was no way a small rabbit could be as successful as he is. But when he hopped out of the car, literally, and took off his sunglasses to look at the officers, he was in every way, shape and form, just a bunny. He was somewhat tall for his species, of normal stature, had unique black stripes of fur on his cheeks and wore a cute, yet discerningly suave grin.

Nick let out a low whistle. "Now that's quite a handsome rabbit there, are you sure he didn't seduce his way to the top?"

"Nicholas Wilde, I didn't know you swung that way!" Judy said, jokingly.

"Well excuse me for saying something nice about another male's looks Mrs. 'Try Everything'. Besides, you don't know that, for all you know I like everyone equally; In fact, maybe I just have a thing for bunnies. After all, I partnered up with you and listen to your incessant complaining every day."

"Ssshh quiet, quiet, he's coming." Judy hushed as Jack walked up to the group.

Walking down the isle of officers, the rabbit gave them a very discerning look; almost like he was trying to suck information out of them.

_Hmmm... Incredibly nervous cheetah that eats too much, probably front desk. A typical, proud lion that perhaps relies a bit too much on instinct, And an experienced, hardened rhino who's probably seen almost as much action as the chief._

Jack thought to himself before suddenly stopping in the middle of the isle, looking over at Nick and Judy.

_So these are the two officers Bogo had personally recommended to me… A cocky looking fox with a strong amount of confidence, and a very enthusiastic bunny from my own home town. These two are the oddest pair of the bunch and, by fair in large, the ones that stands out the most. If I had to pick for myself, I'd almost be biasedley interested in these two over any of the others. Luckily, according to the chief, their skills are as outmatched as their ability to stand out._

"Officers!"

Jack suddenly shouted as everyone in line flinched.

"My name is Jack Savage, and from this point on, with the exception of perhaps walking into the building or not directly being on a case, you probably won't be seeing much of me. The special unit designed by the mayor was specifically tailored to my own interests and my specialty as an M16 agent. And as such, it is as undercover as possible; almost none of you will see any change in your life from my appearance except for the chief himself. That is, unless you are the part of a chosen pair of officers, Cheif?"

Everyone in line started to murmur to each other as Bogo cleared his throat.

"Sense there is simply not enough resources or time for Jack to pick out two of the most competent officers here, I have already hand selected the two that will be joining Jack's special unit; If they so voluntarily wish. These two picked officers, I feel, have been exceptional in all regards. They have cracked some of the most dangerous cases our precinct has had to date and hold an incredible, almost spotless, track record for the short time they've been here."

All the other officers started to groan and put their heads down as it became painfully obvious who he was talking about. Nick, in response, kept an upright posture and his usual smug grin on while Hopps had an excited smile on her face.

Chief Bogo ignored everyone's reactions and continued. "I'm talking of course, about the pair Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps. If you two so choose, you will be-"

"Ooohh yes, yes, yeesss!"

Judy shouted out while hopping up in the air, unable to contain herself. However, she received an unenthusiastic stare from chief Bogo as a result. Her smile quickly dissipated as she regained her composure.

"Ah uhm, sorry, heh… continue."

Chief Bogo looked back at the pair as a whole. "If you so choose, you two will be officially part of this new special unit and be under direct supervision of Jack, while also working side by side with him. You will answer to him first with anything having to do with the specific unit's cases. You're normal ZPD officer activates will be postponed until you are no longer involved with the unit. And due to the sever increase in danger and urgency, you will be given a suitable increase in pay a long with a somewhat less consistent scheduling. Do you two accept this position knowing this?"

Judy, with a determined smile, saluted and said.

"Yes sir!"

Nick also saluted and said.

"Yes sir."

Chief Bogo nodded at the two and put his hands behind his back. "Alright then officers, if you have any questions or information needed from the ZPD you can still report to me. However, you're primary boss, if you wish to call him that, will be Jack. Everyone... dismissed!"

And with that all the officers quickly dispersed, murmuring and talking with one another as Nick and Judy did the same; entering the ZPD building.

"Well, that was quite unexpected."

Nick said as Judy let out a reliving sigh.

"Yeah haha, wow, I... I can't believe we got picked to be on this super special secret unit, how awesome is that!"

Nick put on a neutral grin. "Well, I wasn't quite thinking that, actually. I mean, were already significantly cooler, cuter, handsomer, smarter, stylish, cunning, self-loathing, fluffier-"

Judy pushed his partner roughly."Oh, just get to the point you dumb fox!"

Nick giggled and rubbed the side of his waist.

"Well, sense you asked so nicely. Once you told me about who this Jack guy was, I wasn't really surprised in anything the chief said in his little speech. Really what's unexpected, is the fact that this all took place outside the ZPD building."

Judy looked at him confused. "Wada mean?"

Nick put a finger on his chin."Well, when I think about it, it just... doesn't really make much sense to me. You'd think Information about an M16 agent slipping in here wouldn't be made so publicly and flashy like that. I mean, having all the officers outside for the world to see, letting everyone know there's some kind of secret unit? What's the point in doing all that if it's supposed to be undercover?"

"That's because it's part of the Mayors initiative." Jack said from behind Nick and Judy, startling the two officers.

"Oh, Jack!" Judy called out as Jack smiled cooley.

"The mayor wants the people of Zootopia to know that he's taking the extra mile to protect them after the incident with the previous two mayors. And while having a secret unit nobody knows about is technically more beneficial, it won't get that message across to the general public. You could probably say it's a little bit of a publicity stunt, honestly. That being said, nobody but us will know exactly _what_ we are doing other then something secret."

Jack put his hand out to the pair and smiled.

"Jack Savage, nice to meet you."

Nick was the first to greet Jack with a handshake. "Well, good to meet another fellow bunny then. You know, when I first heard you're name, I thought perhaps you'd be some overly serious spy type. Buuutt I've gotta hand it to yeah, you've made a good first impression, really slick introduction too."

And to both Nick's and Judy's surprise, his smile widened and the rabbit giggled.

"I just so happened to overhear you two as I was trying to catch up is all. I tend to do things pretty on the fly sometimes, so I'm glad it came out well."

After Nick was done, Judy immediately went up to shake Jack's hand with rigor.

"Oh my gosh Jack your like... I can't believe you're here! You've been suuucchh an inspiration for me ever sense I was a young doe, you are the reason I had the determination to leave my home and train to become a cop and work up the courage to come here and gosh your also so much nicer and friendly then I thought I thought you might be mean like Nick said butyouactuallyseemreally..."

Judy sank down as she took a sudden, long, exasperated breathe of air.

"Cool… heh."

Jack continued to smile at Judy. "Well, I'm glad to see someone else from Bunny burrow on the force. The first ever bunny officer, alongside no less the first ever fox officer! Oh and the rumors about spy's being super self-absorbed are... mostly untrue, anyways. In reality, being an I suppose you could say "charming asshole" in delicate situations just comes off as being an asshole. It's important to keep emotions in check and all that, but a good personality is a huge part of being in my department. Luckily the cases here won't be as extreme, so you won't be going through rigorous personality tests."

* * *

"Nick, your reminiscing a bit too much again."

Nick looked over at the gazelle as he caught himself. "Ah, right, right... And I was even the one who said I wanted to hurry up and leave, huh?"

"It's quiet alright, Nick, It's a very healthy sign that your doing so. Tell you what, how about we skim, just a little bit, through the cases itself until we get near the end of the important one."

Nick nodded and laid back in his chair.

"As you know, me and Judy had a few... crazy missions to say the least. We had a good month of extra personal training from Jack himself to make sure we were ready for some more under cover type jobs instead of the usual parading in our uniforms. And the very first case was probably one of the worst ones too..."

* * *

"Just so you know, this is _not_ what I signed up for when I wanted to be on this case…"

Nick said irritatingly as the two bunnies helped to put extra make up on Nick, Jack going behind him to adjust the fox's dress before replying.

"Look, there's no helping it. One of the biggest drug dealers in town is absolutely showing up to the gay bar tonight, and we need yo there. Not only is he going to promote his drug in a very show-offy fashion to multiple important business partners, but he also has a very well known affinity towards effeminate men there, specifically ones in girly clothing."

Nick huffed as Judy put eyeliner on him. "And what's so bad about this drug that I have to show up seducing some weasel looking like this again? Can't we just find the next big drug dealer that's maybe into cute bunny twins, and you two can seduce him?"

Judy went on her tip-toes to apply a bit of powder to Nick's cheeks before speaking up.

"Oh come on, Nick, this is serious. The drugs are part of the same serum Bellwether and her cronies were making for their insane plan. They probably don't do the same thing as the original did, but it's still a dangerous, un-tested, drug; who knows what the side effects could be."

Jack finished adjusting the dress before chiming in. "The reports show the drugs themselves are mostly useful for gaining an edge on fighting or killing, the only other use such a strong drug would have would be maybe for sex. But If it's any constellation, Nick, you look very cute in that dress."

Nick put on an annoyed grin. "Hmm, I don't know Jack, don't you think this costume would look better on you? I mean, you bunnies are already so cute and effeminate, maybe you should be the one going in their instead of me. I bet you'd get a lot more heads turning with that adorable, little bunny tail sticking out of this dress."

Jack crossed his arms. "Well for your information, Nick, I actually have had to dress like a woman for a mission before, and it was indeed quiet... effective. However, the weasel we are after only like's predators, he has very specific interests."

* * *

Nick stared up at the ceiling with a an annoyed look on his face. It felt like he was back in that exact same predicament again, and it was making him irritable.

"Uh, doc, can I... please skip ahead of this case a little."

The gazelle continued to stare at her notepad. "It's Jessica. And I did tell you to skim if you wish, at least talk about the end of it."

* * *

The weasel cackled loudly as he held the somewhat nervous fox around his side. Nick was in a private room on the second floor of a well known gay club, attending the VIP area that had some of the less then legal acts take place; and not just sexually. He was the closest physically to the weasel right now, but there were a few other male animals in dresses around him as well; most of which were next to various other business men.

"I'm telling you, this stuff right here," The weasel banged the suitcase in front of him with his paw, "is the next big hit, my friends. This night howler stuff takes almost no effort to make. You can produce hundreds of edible pellets in a matter of hours, yet it only takes one to feel the effects; not to mention, they look like blue berries! Easy to disguise visually, but smell wise we are still working on it, it is new after all. But gentlemen, trust me when say that this right here, is the future of drugs."

The mammals in suits looked at each other with agreeing smiles while murmuring a few positive words to one another; though the strong drinks and dressed up males next to them might have aided their decision.

Nick tried his best to seem somewhat seductive with the rest of them, but he was feeling a little to uneasy to fully play the role. Nick was recording the whole conversation with the carrot that Judy actually disguised to look like a vibrator if anyone were to see it.

As the weasel looked at the business men rather cockily, he started to hug Nick a little closer to himself and put his head up towards him. Nick gave him a forced smile as the weasel took a rather large swig of his drink, luckily not seeming to notice Nick's nervousness.

_Come on you dumb mammals, take the damn offer already, and say it loudly!_

Nick thought as the one of the dealers coughed into his hand to get the everyone's attention. "Alright then, Weezer, I think this drug will have a lot of good use in the future. I believe with some refinement, it can be a force to be reckoned with; you have yourself a deal!" The two stood up and shook hands as the weasel cackled with excitement.

_Got him!_

Without hesitation, Nick shoved his hand into his pocket, stopped the recording, and clicked another button on the carrot. Within almost seconds the door to the night club was completely busted open as Mchorn was the first to enter it.

"THIS IS THE ZPD, GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

Screams and panic broke out in the club as Delgato and Fangmeyer rushed into the building past the Rhino, both holstering their pistols as other ZPD members surrounded the the building.

The dealers upstairs instantly heard the racket and, without even a single word, scattered in all direction.

Weezer himself looked around suspiciously before making an immediate move. "Shit, how did they know!"

The weasel stood up from his seat before tugging at Nick. "Come on baby, I'll get us out of here, I still have some plans with you."

And in response, Nick instantly smacked Weezer right in the back of the head, taking him out instantly. As the weasel fell to the ground, Nick put his heel on his back while looking down at him.

"I don't think so...sweetheart."

"Nick!"

The fox turned around, seeing Judy as well as Jack enter from a window.

"Nick... are you alright?" Judy said with concern as she went up to the fox.

"Well, you know, aside from maybe a few red marks on my ass and a very deep feeling of shame and regret… yah, I'm doing fine, how about you?"

Judy laughed and gave Nick a strong hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

Jack looked at the duo hugging and chuckled.

"Told you, you could handle a mission with her. You made a fantastic performance out there, Nick; I think you'll make a great agent."

Nick giggled as he put an arm around Judy. "Oh, stop it. If you continue talking like that you're gonna make this lady blush."

Judy looked up at Nick. "You know, that dress does suit you in an odd way though; maybe we should keep it?"

"Well, while getting your affectionate approval about my dress is quiet lovely, I think I'd prefer to throw it away and perhaps forget this enter thing ever happened."

* * *

"But no, there was no forgetting that case. Unbeknownst to Judith, I would have to go to a psychiatrist and talk about it over, and over, and over, until eventually the shame inside me grew so deep that I wouldn't even be able to look at a dress ever again."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Well… unlike some of the times in the past, you're not just using your humor to mask emotions, so I'll allow it."

The Gazelle jotted down some notes before looking back at Nick. To her surprise, he was looking at her seriously.

"Do I really gotta say all these cases again? I mean, I know it's important to you know the buildup of the story and relationships, friendships, blah blah blah; but even you must be getting tired of it, right? Look, next case is our unit bust the second big deal going on in the underground bar, but Jack goes undercover by himself for that one and I just show up last minute. Next me and Jack go to the third one pretending to be interested business men and, once again, a few scratch marks and boom; all three are in jail. Then finally, there's the last one with me, Judy, and the supplier."

Jessica looked at the fox with a blank expression as a small silence arose. Contemplating briefly, she looked down at her note pad.

"Nick... do me a favor. I know this is the important one, but I want you to specifically try to skim through the case itself; not what happens afterward, just the case."

Nick looked at her confusingly. "Uhm... I guess I can try, but is there at least a reason? Or are you just finally just sick of me and this story."

The gazelle jotted some notes down. "Yes, there is a reasoning for it, please try your best."

Nick looked back up at the ceiling, relaxing again.

"…Me and Judy prepared an entire week for this one. There was no undercover stuff like last time, Jack said he had found out where the main supplier making all the drugs was, despite how previously fickle his location seemed to be. He didn't like the fact we were working under such a short time span, but the fact we found him at all was incredibly lucky. So, despite his reluctance, we basically had no choice but to take action. If we didn't do this, id be another year of investigating and taking down more drug dealers versus the chance of making the drug potentially gone. So, me and Judy trained our asses off for the next few weeks to infiltrate and be the closest we could to real spies."

"Tell me, what was the reasoning Jack didn't go with you again?"

Nick chuckled as a light smile crept on his face. "Is this for some kind of psychological information, or are you just invested in the story again?"

There was a small silence in the room as Nick decided to simply continue.

"It was as simple as the guy knew Jack's face. Apparently, back in the young rabbit's M16 Zootopia days, he had fought the guy directly and shut down some other previous operation, but failed to jail him. But getting back to the main plot at hand, the mission was, as simply as I can put it, me and Hopps going into the drug facility with a very meticulous, time efficient plan. We knocked out the front guards just a few moments before their shift switch, got the key cards, infiltrated the ducts, and memorized the details of every possible location the enemy could be in; all so nobody would even know we were there. it was all going according to plan, until we got to the office itself."

Nick paused for brief moment.

"Apparently, we got unlucky. A guard was in the wrong spot at the wrong time, free loading and taking a break when he shouldn't have, and... he saw carrots take out a guy. Despite the fact he was the one slacking and not doing his job, he made a smart decision. He didn't sound the alarm and went straight to the leader himself, telling him that we were there. They waited... we fell into the trap."


	2. Tragedy and Friendship Part 2

“So, it was you two who had been foiling my plans, huh?”

The large cheetah grimaced to Nick and Judy as the two stood their ground. The duo were stuck in a small, but elongated office space with 4 different predators pointing their guns at the two. But they weren't focused on what the cheetah was saying to them, they were scanning the room for any chance of getting out of this situation. The door behind them was already shut, and the only obvious exit out seemed to be the window behind the cheetah and his desk… If only they had the opportunity.

“Did you two little mammals really think you could capture someone like me? Or were you just sent here to kill me?”

Neither of them responded to the cheetah, both only kept on a stern expression.

“Hehe, not talking, huh? I want to show you two something…” The cheetah brought out a large brief case and put it on his desk.

"See this? Everything I've built my new empire on is in this brief case. The equations, the science, the know-how on making the drug; all that information was placed into this case by one of Bellwether's top scientists. Only I, and a few chemists, truly understand the contents of what's hidden in here, and I aim to keep it that way… men, you know what to do."

The cheetah turned his head away from them as his men prepared their guns. Nick and Judy's hands clutched together as they closed their eyes, preparing for the worst. The henchmens fingers slowly went against the triggers and-

**Boom!**

There was an explosion; an explosion so massive that the entire building began to shake and tilt! Flashes of light were lite all around the place as various mammals fumbled with their guns, unable to get a bearing on the floor: now was their chance! Without hesitation, the duo sprinted towards the windows as a last ditch effort to escape. The cheetah, unable to even stand up straight, growled in frustration as he saw the rabbit and fox use the momentum of the tilt to their advantage and fly towards the window. Falling down on his hands and knees, the cheetah stumbled up towards a gun that that was sliding on the floor.

Nick and Judy put their arms up to protect themselves as they broke through the glass window. And, with the exception of a few scratches, the two landed safely on the ground away from the rubble. Through some strange miracle, the duo had managed to escape yet again.

But even as the building was collapsing behind Nick and Judy with everyone else stuck inside, the cheetah didn't give up just yet. Laying on the floor looking through the broken window, he saw Nick and Judy landing on the ground below him. In his paw, held the pistol he looking for. Before the rubble crashed on top of him, the cheetah, with his last breath, took a shot at the two.

And as Nick and Judy got up, the two slowly turned their heads toward each other. As Nick got a good look of Judy’s face however, he could see her expression suddenly change. Her back started to arch, and her body propelled forward. Before Nick had even realized it, Judy was laying down on the ground; the fox’s face contorted to one of horror.

“Judy!”

Nick quickly scrambled over to the rabbit, seeing blood began to soak her clothing. He quickly turned Judy around and examined her face; her eyes were already closed shut, and she was unconscious.

“Judy! Judy come on, speak to me!" 

Explosions were going off left and right, various types of guns were being shot through out all the facility, buildings were collapsing, shouting was heard, and strange figures covered in black moved all around the place; yet Nick simply shook Judy in an attempt to wake her up.

"Come on, Judy, you can't die here, I still need you! You're the reason I'm even here in the first place!"

As Nick started to feel his emotions well up, an explosion went off behind him. The impact was so big that he almost fell over just from the blast radius. Nick was brought back to reality once he looked behind him and saw more rubble start to fall down. Quickly getting his bearings, he got up and held Judy carefully in his arms.

"Don't worry Judy, I'll get you to a hospital right away, it'll be okay! Were both going to make it out of this, together."

* * *

 

Nick stopped talking for a moment and blankly looked at the ceiling. The fox closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"But… I was wrong, she didn't make it out of there. Even though she made it to the hospital itself, it was still all the same. Bullets near the artery, an almost impossible surgery; there was just no way..."

Nick tapped his fingers nervously before turning to his side, away from the gazelle.

"I didn’t even get a chance to talk to her; she died the next day, in the hospital bed."

Jessica observed Nick before jotting something down in her note pad.

"So, what happened afterward, Nick?"

"…Then, I broke down. In just the matter of a single day, my whole world had collapsed, once again. I felt lost, aimless… I didn’t know what to do."

* * *

 

“Nick?”

Jack questioned as he saw Nick sitting against the wall near a bar, holding a bagged beer bottle in his hand.

The fox lazily looked over at Jack with a drunken smile. “Oh hey Jack, l-long time no _burp_ see…”

Jack’s ears fell down; he quickly ran up to the fox. “Nick, what the hell are you doing!? Is this where you’ve been the whole time? You’ve been gone for days!”

Nick gigged as Jack tried his best to help him on his feet. “Aaah who cares where I’ve been, it doesn’t matter. I can go here, there, wherever I want now! It doesn’t matter what I do, I’m my own man!”

Jack put one of Nick’s arm around his shoulder. “Come on Nick, I’ll take you to my place… I can’t be having you stay out here.”

Nick went with Jack as they walked along the sidewalk, the fox seeming to out of it to even do it by himself.

“Huh, your place? Wait, how did you find me out here anyways? I wouldn't think an upscale spy like yourself would even know about this side of town.”

“If I put effort into it, I can track anyone I want… besides, I had a feeling you of all mammals would show up at a bar.”

Nick let out a low chuckle. “Man, you really are a smart rabbit, aren’t you? But you shouldn’t have come, I’d be better off sleeping by the bar...”

“I am _not_ letting you sleep outside, Nick. You’re going to sleep at my place, wither you want to, or not.”

His stern tone drew out a small silence between the two.

Nick looked over at Jack with droopy eyes. “...Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you, Nick. I just…”

Jack looked into Nick’s eyes for a brief moment before frowning and turning his face away from him.

“You can stay at my place for as long as you want. I know you have your own apartment, but if I even get a wiff that you’re going to try to run or drink again, I’m not letting you out.”

No more words were exchanged between the two during their walk. After about 20 minutes, they arrived at Jacks place; and the rabbit opened the door for them.

Jack carefully put Nick down on his bed as he went to close the door and turn on the lights; Nick looking over at him the whole time.

“...Why are you helping me?”

Jack let out a sigh as he turned around back at the fox. “I don’t need a reason to help out a friend, do I?”

Nick frowned and turned his head away. “I’m a worthless friend though... I told you to leave me at the bar.”

Nick, still holding his beer, went to take another swig of it; but Jack immediately intercepted him and held his arm back. “Nick, stop it! Drinking isn’t going to help you, and you’re not a worthless friend.”

“Let go of me...”

Nick gritted between his teeth as he tried pushing past Jack’s strength. But the rabbit, in response, simply swiped the beer out of his hand and let it break on the ground.

Jack tightly grabbed the sides of the fox’s shoulders. “I know what you’re thinking, Nick. I may not have known you as long as Judy, but that doesn't mean I can't understand what you're going through. What happened back in that mission, it… it isn’t your fault, Nick.”

“You weren’t there!”

Nick aggressively pushed Jack off of himself as he stood up and stared at him.

“I could have done something! I could have pushed her out of the way, I could have tried running the second I got up, but all I did was stupidly stand there and stare at her while she got shot!”

Nick’s breathing became heavy as his stance relaxed.

“Judy, she… she did everything for me. The only reason I’m here right now is because of her! The only good things that have happened in my life are because of her! And I… I let her die… I did nothing for her.”

Nick put his paws against his face.

“I could have done something, Jack, I know I could have. Judy had a career, she had a dream… I should have been the one to die back there. She didn’t need me to be great, but I need her…”

Nick sat back down in the bed as tears formed in his eyes.

“I can’t do it without her, I can’t do it…”

Jack slowly sat down next to Nick and tightly wrapped is arm around him, rubbing the side of his back.

“Sssshh… easy Nick, easy.”

Jack continued to comfort Nick as he gave him time to dry out his tears. Once he heard only a few sniffles from the fox, Jack slowly grabbed one of Nick’s paws with his own, causing Nick to turn his head towards the rabbit.

“I want you to do me a favor, Nick. I want you to imagine as if Judy were right here besides you. If even for only a few seconds, Judy had the chance to talk to you right now, what do you think she would say?”

Nick turned his head to the side as he pondered, but no words came to his mind.

“You have to be strong, Nick.”

“You have to be strong, Nick.”

Nick’s ears instantly peaked up. Something sounded off, he heard Jack’s voice, but also Judy’s? The fox quickly turned his head towards Jack and, as expected, simply saw the rabbit himself.

“You can’t let this bring you down; the animals of Zootopia need you, Nick. If I can’t be the one there for them, then you have to be. We knew the risks going in there; nobody can predict what might happen in a situation like that. So even though it’s hard, you have to move on without me, Nick.”

“You can’t let this bring you down; the animals of Zootopia need you, Nick. If I can’t be the one there for them, then you have to be. We knew the risks going in there; nobody can predict what might happen in a situation like that. So even though it’s hard, you have to move on without me, Nick.”

Jack cleared his throat. “Or… something like that.”

Jack gave Nick a light smile as the fox blinked in confusion.

“How… how did you…”

“Well, I’ve known Judy for a while to, you know. But in this case, it’s a little more than just educated guess work. I know what she would say because both Judy and I want the same thing. If Judy were here right now, she would want to see you continue to work as an officer or agent for the ZPD, and she would want you to be happy."

Jack grabbed both of Nick’s paws. "And that's exactly what I want to see too. You have the potential to be an amazing agent, Nick. You're quick on your feet, swift, intelligent... but also kind and caring too. And even though I can’t bring Judy back… at the very least, I can be here for you. After all, I’m your partner too.”

Nick stared at Jack for a brief moment; and in those few seconds of contact, Nick saw something. He knew that the rabbit in front of him was Jack, yet something about this scene felt so familiar to him: the way his ears perked up behind him, the glitter he held in those big eyes of his, and the way his smile spread across his face. Just from looking at Jack, Nick begun to feel a comforting warmness rise up inside him; he felt… nostalgic.

Tears began to form in Nick’s eyes again as he suddenly lunged himself at Jack and gave him a tight hug.

Jack’s expression changed into that of surprise before he wrapped his own arms around the fox. “Haha, e-easy there, Nick, your kind of hurting me.”

Nick let out a small chuckle as he unlatched himself from Jack, looking down at him. “Sorry, Jack… I just…”

The two locked eyes with each other again. Jack was looking up at the fox in slight bewilderment, while Nick found himself wearing a small, but genuine, smile.

“Do you think I could maybe… stay over longer then a day?”

* * *

 

"And so, I ended up sleeping over at Jack’s place for awhile as I tried sorting out some of my thoughts. Then eventually, he recommended me to you. And thus began my long, torturous, emotional, and incredibly melodramatic journey through this stuffy office space."

Jessica wrote down a few words on her note pad, before setting it aside.

"Well, Mr. Wilde, it seems everything passes. I know this hasn’t been easy for you, but you’ve made some fantastic progress in the short amount of time you’ve been here. Even if it was initially a little slow, you’ve managed to recover fairly well.”

Nick stretched his limbs out. "Weelll, what can I say? I'm just a stone cold fox; no emotions can get past my fortified walls for long."

"Hmmm, is that so?" Jessica was unimpressed. "If you ask me, I think the real reason why you recovered so quickly was because of your friend, Jack. He seems to have been very supportive of you ever since the incident, and all the other stories of your daily occurrences seem to include him very... positively."

Nick let off a warm smile as he looked at the ceiling. "Well, again, what can I say? I'm just one lucky fox."

Nick turned his head back over at Jessica. "Now… I believe I am free to go, no?"

Jessica sighed. "Yes, Mr. Wilde, you are free to go. I have no reason to call you back in, either."

Nick jumped up on his feet and dusted off his clothes. "Well then, in that case, I think I'm gonna head out right away. I'm meeting up with a buddy at the bar and don't want to be late."

Nick, without hesitation, began to walk towards the door and-

“Oh, Mr. Wilde?”

Nick halted and looked back at Jessica.

“I do hope you have stopped going to Jack’s place every time you have an issue. There’s nothing wrong with getting help from a friend, but you should be able to support yourself too.”

Nick gave Jessica a neutral expression. “Haven’t had to do that for a few months by this point, Mrs. Rosaria. I told you, I’m over it, and I’m also out of here.” Nick turned back around and waved his hand in the air as he left. "Hope to never see you soon."

Jessica gave Nick an annoyed smirk as he left the office.

"Likewise..."

* * *

 

Nick kicked open the door to the bar as he wore his trademark, smug grin. The fox had on some rather high quality, casual looking clothes that fit someone getting a decent pay check.

Noticing his friend at the bar, Nick walked up to him and sat beside him.

"I hope you didn't start drinking without me, Jack."

Jack looked back at Nick with a smile. “And I hope _you_ kept your promise and haven’t been drinking.”

Nick faked a hurt expression. “Jack, how could you even suggest such a thing? I’ve been an honest, goody-toe-shoes, fox who’s kept his word all the way through… with the exception of maybe a few long islands, but that’s tea so I don’t think it counts.”

Jack eyed Nick suspiciously. “I hope there isn’t an ounce of truth to that joke… in fact, there better not even be half an ounce of truth to it.”

“Oh very clever, bunny; but it’s true, the no alcohol part, anyways. In fact, it would have been harder trying not to go through with it considering Jessica also wouldn’t let me drink until I was officially out of her office; on a few occasions she even checked my breath just to make sure.”

Jack chuckled. “She went that far, huh? I hope you haven’t been trying to recover just so we could give you permission to drink again.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t go _that_ far just for alcohol. Besides, there’s something I missed more than just being able to drink.” Nick gave Jack a sly look. “Being able to hang out with my _charming_ bunny partner. I know how you rabbits hate the word cute, so I thought that might be a better replacement.”

Jack put a paw dramatically on his chest. “Why, Mr. Wilde, I did not know you swung that way!”

“I swing whichever way the wind flows, Jack; and right now, the wind is leading me that a way.”

Nick pointed his finger at the second beer Jack had in front of him, eliciting a small giggle from the rabbit who pushed it towards him.

“Wasn’t even sure you had noticed it, been saving it up just for you. And don’t worry about any other beers past this one; it’s all on my card tonight.”

Nick grabbed his glass. “Well, let’s not waste any more time then.”

_3 beers later…_

The two started laughing with strong buzz in their heads.

"Hey Nick, now that you've officially moved on and all that, can I ask something? And I want you to be honest with me."

Nick took another sip of his beer and smiled back at his partner. "Sure thing bud, ask me anything."

"Well… I never once asked this before or after the incident for a large, multitude of reasons, but… did you love Judy?"

Nick put his beer down and looked down at the bar table with a distant glare.

Jack, noticing his reaction, put on a frown. "I'm sorry nick, I-"

"No, no, I said anything, and it's... really not as bad as you think, so I'll tell you."

Nick quickly took another swig of beer before replying. "In short… not quiet, I never got to that point. She meant a lot to me, and I loved her as much as a partner could without officially leaking into that territory. Now don't get me wrong, we got close, dangerously close in fact, but we both decided to keep to ourselves; me more so then Judy I would say. And I can't speak for you bunnies, but see, when foxes fall for someone, we fall hard: it's never graceful. As a result, we have a natural defense against that type of relationship I think, and especially me due to my... past. But funny enough, I had said to myself that if me and Judy ever survived that crazy second night howler case, I'd for once in my life attempt to completely open up to her. I'd go full on in with a relationship; I'd see if I really loved her and hope she'd reciprocate. But well... you know."

Jack, to Nick's surprise, laughed a bit drunkenly and dropped his head against his shoulder.

"Oooh you foxes, ssooooo emotional!"

Nick chuckled and pushed him off. "Well then, Mr. Bunny, what about you? Judy was pretty emotional at times, so I always thought bunnies were just as emotional as us foxes."

Jack giggled. "I think that's more a female thing, or perhaps Judy. If were just talking bunnies in general, I wouldn't say were overly emotional. In fact, a lot of our ways of affection are pretty sexual."

Nick crossed his arms and shook his head. "Typical bunnies, always just want to fuck, no room for love."

"Hey, now that's not true! Of course, the stereotype about multiplying and sex is uh... 100% true; but for us, sex and love are very linked mind you."

"Oh? I wouldn’t have guessed that."

Jack nodded drunkenly. "That's right! For example, you can tell how much two bunnies love each other from how many kids they have. Like, Judy's family had what... 257 kids, or something? So you know they loved each other quite a bit. Then my family had like, less than 100, and well... As much as I love my parents, I think they were more like friends with benefits who didn't want to bother looking for anyone else."

Nick took another swig of beer before responding. "Hmm, so parents that love their kids but not each other, boy does that sound familiar…"

Nick paused for a moment, slouching his body down at the bar table. Then the fox suddenly sprang back to life.

"But let's not talk about that! What about you, Jack? Have you ever loved someone else?"

Jack looked away from Nick and twitched his nose.

"Uhm, well, I don't... think I've... ever been. I mean, like Judy, my life was pre-occupied with working my ass off and studying, no time for that kind of stuff. And even on the job, there wasn't much time for it. If I think about it, mmaaayyybbee I was in love at one point? I don't know if this one girl I saved counted, she was cool I guess…"

Nick chuckled drunkenly. "Nah, that isn't love, trust me; if you aren't sure, it isn't love!"

Jack looked over at Nick with sloppy glare. "So what about you, big guy? Any love before Judy."

Nick also took a moment to think.

"Eh, I don't think so." He shrugged. "I mean, I had sex, lots of flings, but you know, nothing really close to romantic even if perhaps a few vixen's in the past tried. Judy was the first person I was ever going to consider opening up to, maybe falling for... but well, you know, that isn't happening anymore."

Nick looked over at Jack with a drunk smile, but his face turned to one of surprise once he saw him.

Jack looked like he was almost heartbroken, and suddenly leaned his entire head up against Nick, hugging him. "That's so sad! I'm sorry, Nick!"

Nick just laughed and patted his back. "Hey, it's alright buddy; it is what it is. Besides, I got you now, don't I?"

Jack looked up at Nick and gave him a smile. "Awwww, Nick."

"Ahem!"

The two suddenly looked over to see the bartender across from them. The mammal shook his head before putting on a smile.

"If you two are done yet, would you like me to bring you your checks, or more beer? And uh, please just one more beer if you do order."

The duo looked at each other and smirked, saying in unison.

"Isn't it obvious? Another!"

The bartender sighed.

"Coming right up."

* * *

 

Later that night, the two of them ended up fumbling up to Nick's apartment as the fox clumsily unlocked the door and entered the room; turning on the lights. Jack followed behind him, looking around in amazement.

"Woaahh, so this is your room, huh? I had almost forgotten you even had a place after coming to mine so often."

Nick chuckled as he lazily threw his jacket off onto the floor. "Well, it was more convenient to just go to your place at the time; plus, mine isn’t as nice, anyways. But you know, saying that now..." Nick drunkenly shut the door behind them as he walked closer towards his partner.

"We should like, hang out way more. Not that we haven’t been at all, but I’ve kept to myself a lot more than I wanted too because of the whole therapy thing, and we haven’t been able to drink together either; but now, we can! We could even like, do movie nights and stuff! Judy and I always used to do it every Friday night, though it was usually bad movies over good ones."

Jack put a finger on his chin. "Ooohh yeah, I think I maybe went to one of those sense you two asked... it was fun; I'd love to just do it with you, though."

Nick sat down on the bed and motioned for Jack. "What were you doing before, though? Ah, I mean... What were you doing when not hanging out with me and Jude?"

Jack sat down next to Nick. "Well, not that much, really. I don't actually know too many people here in Zootopia anymore, so I guess if I'm not with other friends, I just watch TV by myself, or enjoy eating out: that sort of thing."

Nick frowned and shook his head. "That won't do; a guy as great as you can't be doing stuff by himself." Nick put one of his paw's on Jack's shoulder. "Listen, from now on, you're gonna be doing stuff with me, got it?"

Jack giggled for a long period of time before suddenly laying himself down on the bed. "Aaaah, we are so drunk... I can't walk home, I'm too tired."

Nick, in response, laid next to Jack with a smile. "Then, just rest with me tonight. I only got one bed, but it's nice and big, no need to sleep on the floor."

Jack scooted up close to him. "Mmm, I think that'd be nice..."

Nick reached his arm and turned the lights off next to him as Jack started wrapped his paws around the fox.

"Ah, hey, you don't need to cling to me."

But Jack only responded with only a small hum as he started drifting to sleep. Nick sighed as he ended up accepting his drunk partner's clinging; relaxing in the bed.

"Good night to you too, bunny."

Nick laid motionless in bed as he listened to his partner behind him; and eventually, he could hear Jack lull into a deep sleep. As much as he tried to sleep with him, he couldn’t relax; there was still something on his mind, and he needed to get it over with.

Nick reached into one of his pockets and pulled out his phone. He quietly turned it on and looked at his contact list, hovering over the name Jack and Judy next to one another. Under Judy's contact was every single conversation the two had with one another, including shared pictures. Nick stared at the bright screen for a moment, hesitating. But eventually, he pressed his paw against Judy’s name, and clicked the delete button.

The fox left out a hefty sigh as he immediately turned off the phone and dropped it on the floor. He carefully turned himself around in the bed and looked down at Jack, still peacefully asleep beside him.

_It’s okay, Nick. Everything’s going to be fine,_

Nick slowly began to close his eyes as he wrapped an arm around Jack.

_because you have Jack now._


	3. More Than Just a Partner

You know, you could say that me and this little ol' rabbit are pretty much inseparable at this point. Of course, I don't mean Judy; well... at least anymore. No, I have another bunny to annoy now days, a bunny that goes by the name Jack. Yes, that Jack, one of the most renown, un-renown spies that everybody's never heard of. Really, his "popularity" is only from the fact he's the first ever bunny spy, but being part of the M16 doesn't exactly get your name out there even with that fact.

But I digress. As I was saying before: me and this bunny basically do everything together ever since our first big case ended. When I felt like I had lost everything, he was the one there supporting me. No matter how late it was he'd let me stay at his place when I was feeling down, he'd listen to me when it felt like I couldn't rely on anyone else, he'd take me out to bars, and even one night slept next to me after we had a few to many drinks. Although, I usually try to omit that last part from my memory; once you're sober, the morning after is always a bit... awkward.

Oh, and despite the previous case being closed, to which I still question if you can call it that, the mayor decided to keep the branch open due to the insane amount of popularity our little escapades created. For the longest time, I thought our branch was only a publicity stunt, but who knew we'd actually end up doing some good. Jack had proved to be a huge asset the precinct, even if somewhat indirectly. Under his tutelage I, of all mammals, had somehow ended up becoming a practical, full blown spy. When it came to the job, the rabbit excelled in almost every category you could think of; and outside the job, he's an amazing friend.

With our big case closed at the moment, the majority of our work right now is just showing up and writing a few reports here and there. As a result, we get a pretty decent time away from the office.

"Uh, Nick?"

And with that time away from the office, me and Jack usually end up going to the bars around here perhaps a little to often. I guess considering our checks, it's not hard to-

"Nick!"

* * *

Nick jolted up as he turned his head around. He saw Jack sitting in the passenger seat, staring at him.

"Jeez, you weren't even paying attention to me! What were you day dreaming about this time?"

Nick relaxed into his seat and put back on his usual smug grin.

"Oh, you know, the usual; memories of past missions, thinking of saving cute vixens with my patented spy skills, crashing the car into the side walk while day dreaming."

"Yeah, well, let's not make that last part become a reality. If we don't hurry, were not going to make it to the ceremony in time, and you're the one carrying the ring."

Nick's grin disappeared as he quickly looked at the clock in their car, 5:40; still time to get to the ceremony at 6:00, but Nick was hoping to give himself more leeway.

"Don't worry, bunny, I got this." Putting on his sunglasses, Nick clutched the steering wheel tightly. The red light they were waiting on turned green, and Nick immediately floored-it down the road as his grin reappeared.

Jack seemed unfazed by Nick's course of action. "This may not be a chase, but don't get to relaxed. If you screw up, not only will we not make it, but we'll be paying for a replacement vehicle."

Nick quickly swerved to the right at his turn, easily avoiding the other cars around him while keeping his foot on the gas.

"You should know better than to doubt me, fluff; especially after the last mission we were on."

Jack put on cocky grin. "You mean the one where our target was supposed to be interested in you, but ended up going to me instead because you were too busy talking to a vixen?"

"For your information, Jack, that vixen was hitting on mywa, and it would have been very rude of me to say no to her drink. If anything, it just shows that you're clearly more fit for missions involving other males."

Jack put a paw to his chin. "Hmmmm, not so sure about that one, slick; you did look awfully good in that dress last time. Maybe now that we both got a chance at seducing someone, we'll get to seduce a guy together as a team?"

Nick briefly pointed his finger at Jack, keeping his other hand tightly on the wheel. "See, that's another complaint I have by the way; we've gotten two cases of having to seduce a guy, but where are all the cases where we get to seduce women? Surely, there must be a few underground female dealers with wide hips and good looks, not just gay weasels and deer."

Jack adjusted his tie. "Well, I don't know about you, but I have gotten to do that on multiple occasions actually. Perhaps the chief just doesn't want to give you the satisfaction?"

The car quickly halted as they parked at their destination spot. Nick looked at the clock. "Alright, just in time…"

Nick let out a reliving sigh as Jack got out of the car and looked back at his partner.

"Come on, now, don't take too long; you'll have plenty of time to relax when waiting for groom."

* * *

 

The Church was silent; everyone in their seats enchantingly watched the priest in front of them as he gave his speech. The left side of the church was filled with a disparity of different Raccoon's and even few variations within its own species, while the right side of the church was filled with a smaller group of tigers.

Nick, with his always confident smile on, stood, to quite a few people's surprise, as Fangmeyer's best man. Meanwhile, Jack, stood almost adjacent to Nick on the Raccoon's side among one of his closer friends, though not as his best man. Fangmeyer himself was looking dapper in a rather expensive suit that fit him well enough, though was little on the tight side. And on the other side stood the stout Axel; an equally as happy Raccoon also sporting a nice suit with a wide smile across his face.

The priest, finishing up his speech, closed his book and looked happily at the two animals.

"You may now kiss the groom."

The two animals gazed at each other's eyes for a brief moment before they both leaned forward and engaged in a passionate kiss, causing both sides of the church to clap with even a few small cheers being heard among them.

_Pop!_

The sound of a cork echoed throughout the dining hall as the father on the Raccoon's side of the family opened a bottle of champagne and spilled some of the drink across the floor with reckless abandon; both the grooms and their family's only laughed and cheered around the table in response. Jack and Nick, from a small distance, were back together, smiling happily for the couple and occasionally glancing around the room filled with other tables and family members.

"I really can't believe it." Nick said, shaking his head as he looked at the two. "I really didn't think I'd be alive today to see one of the first ever inter-species marriages. You can question some of what the new Mayor of Zootopia has done for the city, but you can't deny he's done some good by legalizing this."

Jack let a content smile show his face as he continued looking at the two happily clinking their glasses and downing champagne together.

"You know, I'm more surprised that you of all people became Fangmeyer's best mate for the wedding." Jack looked up at Nick curiously. "I knew you two talked more than some of the other's, but you weren't ever truly that close, right? I mean, there's no way that you've chatted with Fangmeyer more then you've talked to Clawhauser. I only got to be up here with Axel due to our past friendship when I was younger and in Zootopia, so I'm thinking there's more a reason for you as well."

Nick put on a smug grin. "Well, if you must know, it was because I was actually the one that convinced him to go with the marriage."

Jack looked at Nick in disbelief. "No way, he went to you!?"

Nick chuckled before shaking his head, almost not believing it himself.

"I know, right? Ludicrous, going to me of all people? But apparently, I was the only friend in the ZPD in early that day. He suddenly pulled me aside while walking to the bathroom and suddenly told me he had spent most of the day before, and the entire morning, stressing over this idea. He hit me with an information bomb in the time span of 6 minutes, really you should have heard how fast he was talking. He talked and talked all about falling for this raccoon fellow, loving him, being with him, the legalization of marriage, thoughts on wanting to actually do it, all this doubt and concern he had, stress about what other people would think, if his family would be okay with the idea, blah blah... you get the deal."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "So... what did you tell him?"

Nick took his drink off the table and took a small sip before responding.

"Well, simple; I told him it doesn't matter. Not to put down how important this legalization thing really is, but at the end of the day marriage isn't going to change your love for someone, right? If anything, I always saw it not really as a next step, but a bit of an excuse to celebrate. Some people feel better about it if they have papers backing up their relationship, but at the end of the day a marriage should be something fun and exciting. He was worrying so much about the public's view, about peoples thought's on the matter, and all this other stuff that he had practically forgotten why he wanted to do it in the first place; to show Axel that he loved him. So, I told him, if he truly wanted to do it, he should do it for himself and his partner, and not for any other excuse, or reason. And now well... here we are."

Nick looked over at the married couple again, already on their second glass of champagne.

Jack, in turn, also stared over at the two before speaking up. "...You know, you really did to a fantastic thing for them, Nick. I think Fangmeyer's not only lucky to have you as a friend, but I think I'm quiet lucky to have someone as caring as you as my partner." Jack looked up at Nick with a warm smile.

Nick looked away from Jack in slight embarrassment, rubbing his neck. "Hey, come on now, don't be saying stuff like that at a wedding; my old fox heart can only take so many emotions at once."

And just as Jack was going to respond, Fangmeyer and Axel surprised them by coming up to them from behind; the tiger casually putting an arm around Nick.

"Wachu fellows talking about over here? Hope I didn't interrupt something _romantic_."

Nick looked back at the tiger with a smile. "No, but you did interrupt us trying to give you cheers for a healthy and long lasting relationship, so I guess that won't be happening anytime soon."

Fangmeyer only laughed as he took another huge sip from his champagne glass. And as he was drinking, a possy of other officers from the ZPD showed up behind the cheetah with drinks of their own.

Fangmeyer pointed his finger at the officers and his partner. "Axel here will be joining us for a rare occasion of police debauchery at that fancy little bar you both can afford to go to way too often, not that anyone here will have to worry about buying anything." Fangmeyer looked back at the crew as they all cheered.

Jack glanced over at the two and back around to some of the other guests. "But, what about both of your families?"

Axel went up to Jack. "Eh, you know my folks, they aren't exactly big into partying anyways. Besides, it's _our_ wedding, and I think drinking with some police officers sounds fun to me!"

Fangmeyer wrapped one of his arms around the raccoon. "And my own folks didn't seem to mind when I told them what we wanted to do. We'll have a bit more champagne here, then head on off to the bar!" Fangmeyer roared as all the officers cheered again, a few family members in the background even laughing.

Nick and Jack, in unison, looked at one another.

Nick smirked at his partner. "Well, as they say; live and let live, right?"

Jack let out a small sigh. "Alright, fine... but let's try not to get too pissed drunk this time, okay?"

Nick's grin widened in response.

"Whatever you say, bunny."

* * *

The door creaked open to Jack's apartment as the mildly drunken bunny and fox giggled near the entrance way.

Walking into the room, Nick turned the lights on. "Wow... I can't believe how much that raccoon can party, he even gives Clawhauser a run for his money after a few mixed drinks."

Jack laughed as he entered the room afterward and slumped down on the couch. "What I can't believe is that we actually ended up not getting completely wasted tonight; everyone but us was already downing champagne at the party. While we were just getting buzzed, everyone at that bar was already going crazy! I hope those others guys didn't pass out on the way home."

Nick sat next to the bunny with a somewhat drunken smile on his face.

"Well, I think that's a first for us. We went to a party, with the officers no less, and were the least two drunk of the group. Although, maybe I should say that's even more an accomplishment for you." Nick poked a finger on the rabbit's chest.

"Oh, come on." Jack retorted. "I may be well... a little bit worse then you, but I wouldn't say you're always so great yourself."

Nick turned his head away from him. "Don't know what you're talking about, bunny. whether its being incredibly handsome or drinking, I'm always great."

Jack and Nick both chuckled together before a small silence entered the room. After a small moment together, Nick, unexpectedly, broke the air with a serious tone. "Hey, Jack?"

Jack looked over at him. "Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say, uhm... thanks."

Jack giggled again. "For what? Convincing Axel to take that second shot straight away?"

Nick shook his head. "No, just... for everything, really. I've been thinking about how great today has been and how amazing our time together has been, and it just... It feels almost unreal after what happened six months ago. As we were both drunkenly walking through the streets today, I remembered feeling something eerily familiarity to the situation. Partying with the officers, then walking home with a drunken stumble... It reminded me how many times I used to do that with Judy. Her smile and giggle when she got drunk were both one of the funniest and most genuinely cutest things I had ever seen."

Nick paused for a brief moment as he cupped his paws together.

"But just as quickly as I felt that nostalgia, I also felt a sharp pain in my chest. Even for how much fun I was having at that exact moment, I was reminded of the fact Judy wasn't with me anymore. I'd never see or hear from her again, and even the memories I do have of her feel almost like distant dreams at times rather than reality. But just as that feeling of gloom started to ripple through me... I suddenly felt a small pull from you. You had kept your arm around me and occasionally tugged at my arm to prevent yourself from being too clumsy; and at that moment, I looked down at you and remembered that even though Judy was gone, you were still with me. And suddenly the pain and sorrow that was creeping through me immediately disappeared, almost like it was barley real in the first place. It reminded me that Judy's disappearance wasn't the end all be all of my life, it reminded me that I have you now. The reason I was able to move on from what happened to Judy and be where I am today, still getting drunk and still being able to keep a smile on my face, is thanks to you."

Nick looked down at Jack with a loving smirk as Jack returned the favor. The rabbit quickly scooted closer to Nick and gave one of his arms a tight hug while putting his head onto it.

"Come on you dumb, sentimental fox; you should know you don't have to thank me for that."

Nick laughed and put a hand softly around Jack's back. "I know, bunny; you can partially blame it on the alcohol if it makes it feel any less heavy."

Jack's ears suddenly perked up at the fox's words as he looked up at him, this time with a more mischievous grin on his face.

"You know, speaking of alcohol... considering everyone at the party got off tomorrow and we got home earlier than we anticipated, we could still go a bit farther, if you know what I mean."

Nick raised an eyebrow to Jack. "Oh? Wadda got in mind, rabbit?"

Jack let go of Nick and momentarily scooted to the other edge of the couch, opened up a nearby cabinet, and took out a bottle of red wine before slyly grinning back at the fox. "We still got a few more bad romance cop flicks to watch, you know."

Nick smiled playfully. "Now you're speaking my language."

* * *

"Nicholas… I love you, now and forever. Don't ever leave me again."

A very masculine lion, bruised up with scratches and dust all over his body, was holding up a lioness with one arm.

He leaned down closer to her. "A long time ago, do you remember when you asked me if I was gonna take it or leave it? Well, I've already made up my mind… I'm taking it, all of it…"

The Lion entered into a dramatic kiss with the lioness as cheesy trumpets started playing in the background and the screen faded to black with the credits rolling.

Jack and Nick, having downed almost all the wine, were officially wasted by this point in the movie; with perhaps Jack being the worst of the two.

both of them laughed as well as groaned at that ending of the movie.

"Maannn, what an awful call back with that line." Jack said, shaking his head as Nick responded.

"And that ending didn't even fix anything, what happened to the guy that escaped? Didn't he destroy the entire police station?"

Jack let out a drunken sigh and leaned into Nick, closing his eyes.

"Aaaahh, who cares!"

Jack slurred out as Nick looked down at him.

"Getting tired there, fluff? Want me to help you to your room?"

Though even as he said that, Nick wasn't sure if he'd be fully capable of doing so given his state as well.

"Mmmm, only if you sleep with me this time." Jack blurted out as Nick chuckled.

"Hey now, let's not go down that road again. It's fun and cute when were drunk like this, but it's always awkward the next morning: for both of us."

Jack Buried his face into Nick's, groaning more. "I don't care about that, I want to do it anyways."

Nick only sighed and helped the sleepy bunny on his feet, even though he was only doing marginally better then him right now.

"Come on Jack, lets hit the hay."

As the two went to his bed, Jack immediately collapsed on top of it while Nick helped get some blankets on him.

"Now, try to get some good sleep, we got a whole day ahead of us." Nick said as he looked briefly at the tired bunny. A few flickers of thoughts crossed his mind, but the fox immeaditly ignored them and started to walk out of the room; awkwardly trying not to fall himself. But suddenly, he felt a part of his shirt get strained, preventing him from moving. Nick looked back at Jack to see the rabbit holding a very drunken, but mischievous, smile on his face while gripping Nick's shirt.

"Fine, but only if you give me goodnight kiss." Jack teased.

Nick gave him a serious look. "Jack, come on, let go of my shirt."

Jack shook his head feverishly. "Come on, foxy, either you sleep in my bed with me or give me a little kiss." Jack giggled drunkenly at his own words.

Nick started to feel a little nervous, Jack's grip wasn't letting loose and the fox was too drunk, and frankly, too tired to be thinking of a decent way out of this. He looked down again at the almost equally drunk bunny on the bed who was, in turn, looking up at Nick with an innocent yet cute smile on his face; it was the same smile as last time…

He paused for a moment, not saying anything to the smiling bunny. This should have hardly been a predicament to the fox under a normal circumstance, but yet he found himself unable to leave. His mind may not have been in the right place, but he knew what he wanted.

Letting go of what little inhibition he had left, Nick went with his feelings and gave Jack a small kiss. It was a little sloppy, and maybe lasted a second longer than it should have, but it got the job done. Nick quickly pulled his muzzle back to see the face of a completely flabbergasted bunny below him, wearing a noticeable blush on his cheeks. Nick also couldn't help but wear one too, but still, kept his expression serious. Noticing that Jack had let go of him, Nick quickly tucked the bunny back in.

"Now be a good bunny and go to sleep… I'll see you tomorrow."

After his statement, Nick quickly left the room and closed the door behind him without even so much as a glance back.

The fox swiftly turned his back up against it. "Did I really just do that…"

A strange mix of emotions began to well up inside Nick, but he was to out of it to even fully understand them. Not wanting to face any of them, the fox stumbled over to the guest bed and plopped himself down on the blankets. He groggily turned his body around so that he was looking up at the ceiling.

"No point thinking about it now, Nick. Just head to bed and face the awkwardness tomorrow morning..."

He groaned at the thought of tomorrow even happening, but never the less, closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep; thanking god that the alcohol let him do so easily

* * *

The sun started to shine throw the window as the rays  of light touched against Nick's eyelids. Very soon after, he felt his brain functions return and his eyes begin to open up. However, the second he felt himself fully wake up, he also felt his face contort in irritation. The memories of last night all flooded into his mind in an instant, and the fox winced.

"…Shit"

Nick promptly got up off of the bed and stretched his arms. He was surprised he didn't get any hangover that day, but was glad not to have considering the other head ache he was having from the events yesterday; and unfortunately, he didn't forget any of them.

His ears twitched as he heard the sounds of running water in the background and a few moving pans; Jack was already up and awake before him. A part of Nick just wanted to go back to bed and lye face down in it forever, but he wasn't the type to dodge stuff like this; he knew he had to face the music.

"Oh, good morning!"

Nick heard from the kitchen as Jack seemed to be busy cooking something, presumably for the two of them. The fox slowly walked over to the kitchen, but hesitated getting close.

"And uhm, morning to you too…"

A small pause broke out between them as Jack focused on the food. Forcing himself to move further, the fox started walking closer.

"Sooooo, about last night..." He began, trying to play it off as Jack snickered in response.

"Oh yeah, last nice was pretty crazy, huh? I actually remember the whole party, but I barley remember what happened when we got home."

Nick looked at him in slight shock as Jack casually flipped an egg over.

"Well, maybe not completely. Really, all I forgot was the latter half of that dumb movie we watched and going to bed. I hope I wasn't too much a hassle getting to my room."

However, Nick didn't respond right away. 

Jack looked at him inquisitively. "Hey, something wrong? I didn't actually do anything to dumb last night, right?"

Nick casually sat down at the dining table as he kept his face turned away from the kitchen. "No... nothing unusual, just a little clumsy on the way to bed like usual."

Jack let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I know I'm pretty fun drunk, but when I go too far I also know I can be a bit of a hassle. But anyways, how would you like your eggs cooked?"

* * *

The drive for the two was filled with a very strange silence that afternoon. The day had just begun, but already it seemed to be off to a rocky start. Nick was a little more quiet than usual during their breakfast, and simply brushed it off as drinking too much last night. Jack accepted the answer at first, but was starting to have doubts once they arrived at the cafe. The two of them were chatting and people watching like always, having a seemingly good time; but Nick was a little out it. Every once and awhile something would catch the fox off guard, and he'd start to act strange.

"After her second husband left her, she than had to, once again, change which finger she wanted to put her ring on."

Nick pointed at the ring on a female leopard's finger across from the duo who was was laughing it up with a goat also wearing a ring. "And the only finger left for a third marriage would be the pinky, or in this case... that fat thumb right there."

Jack thought to himself for a moment. "That is an interesting theory you have there. I'm in fact, almost inclined to believe it, but I have something to add to it."

Nick pointed his finger at his partner. "Shoot, buddy."

Jack looked at the couple for a brief moment as Nick joined him in the view; the two watching the leopard and goat stare into each other's eyes.

"I think the flings she had before were mostly when she was young and taking things too far. Probably married a guy after less than a year of getting to know them, broke up with them, and just as quickly re-married before that also failed. So, after a while, maybe she learned to hold back a bit; not go so crazy on all this marriage stuff or rushing a relationship. Now, obviously, we know this has to be a new marriage, pred prey and all; but the way those two talk to each other and look at one another... It's really subtle, but I get this small inkling that they've actually been together a really long time, and only recently got this opportunity. I think she's taking this marriage a bit more seriously."

Nick looked more carefully at the couple and could see his point. The doughy eyes they had for each other wasn't a simple attraction, something about it felt much deeper.

Nick let out a small hum before looking back at Jack.

"Perhaps your right, bunny, maybe this is the first actual genuine relationship that's ever been in this café."

Jack smiled and looked back at Nick. "Well, we we're here first, right? So what does that make us?"

Nick looked down at the bunny who continued to stare right back at him; the rabbit was wearing a much happier smile compared to his usual suave one. This type of joke didn't happen often, but Nick knew it was just Jack being playful; and normally, the fox would think of an equally clever, or playful response to him. But seeing Jack's face, and hearing him say those words to him after yesterday... 

Nick felt his stomach suddenly tighten up. He found himself unable to think of a witty response like usual; in fact, he almost couldn't stand to keep looking at him. Nick turned his gaze away from Jack and looked off to the side.

"Erhm, yeah, I suppose so..."

A bit of a silence broke between the two as Jack's expression turned to bewilderment. Unsure of how to reply, he simply turned his own head away and sipped on his tea.

And throughout most of the day, Nick continued to act like this on and off to the very confused, and concerned, Jack. It happened again during a conversation when they went to the movie theaters afterward, a few times during the movie itself, and even right after it was over. Jack wasn't even specifically trying to be playful with Nick anymore, yet he was still acting so awkward around him. It felt like what should have been a fun day together had been spoiled by the fox's strange attitude.

Jack was doing the driving home this time around and looked over at Nick.

"Uhh... Nick?"

The fox stared blankly out the window. Jack puffed his cheeks out in annoyance.

"NICK!"

Nick suddenly sprang to life and looked around in confusion. "What, huh!?"

Eventually, his gaze met Jack's, the rabbit looking at the fox curiously. "You uh... doing all right, buddy?"

Nick sank back into his seat. "Yeah, I'm fine; just been doing a lot of thinking is all." 

Jack wasn't convinced.

"...You sure nothing weird happened last night?"

"Yes, Jack, its fine." Nick responded, upset at having to get that memory re-jogged into his system.

Jack stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Well, whatever you say, Mr. grumpy. If you don't want to say something now, we can talk about it later."

Jack stopped trying to engage in conversation after his last sentence; and Nick, continuing to prolong the silence, went back into is mind.

_Shit... I'm making it so obvious that something's bothering me; I thought I was smoother than this. I keep trying to tell myself to just act natural, pretend like nothing happened and it's just another day out with my friend, yet..._

Nick looked over at Jack through the corner of his eye's. The bunny had a very neutral expression on as he drove the car.

_Yet I can't seem to do it anymore... what the hell happened? At what point did it become so hard to look at him? I know these feelings are partially to blame for that damn kiss, the timing is obvious, but..._

Nick thought back to the moment he was staring at the bunny at the café, Jack wearing an innocent smile on his face. Other moments in the past few months of that occasionally happening flowed through his brain.

_But that feeling I had at the cafe, It didn't just appear overnight. On rare moments when I'm with him, I've had that same sort of feeling before, but much more... subtle. And the more I think about that feeling, about what it is,_

Images of Nick's previous partner, Judy, popped into his head.

_It reminds me of being with Judy. Having that feeling of such a strong happiness in being with a person that calling it simply liking them wouldn't be accurate. But when the hell did it start? When did I start having this feeling in the back of my mind, or my sub-consciousness?_

Nick strained himself as he tried his best to recollect the earliest memory of this phenomenon.

_I... I don't know... just like with Judy, it snuck up on me. But with her, I had never acted anywhere near this bad, so why is it so different now?_

Images of last night's events started to invade his thoughts again, the short and awkward drunken kiss they had and the blushed shocked face Jack wore after doing it.

_Even with Judy, I had never once kissed her, had I? We've hugged plenty, cuddled sometimes, and it once even got a little close to a kiss before, but it never really happened. Is that it? Am I having trouble controlling my feelings now after that kiss? It's almost like what I've been hiding so deeply inside me has started to come to the fore front of my mind because of it. Am I really... falling for him?_

Suddenly, Nick felt the car stop and the engine turned off. He looked confusingly at his surroundings and then to Jack, who was already staring right at him.

"Well, were here."

Nick blinked and didn't respond right away, he quickly looked out the window of the car to see his apartments and back to Jack.

"But... I live almost 30 minutes away from the theater."

Jack turned his eyes away from Nick, staring out the window. "You were just sitting there in silence for most of those 30 minutes. I started to figure after a while that perhaps you just wanted to head home early instead of hanging out further."

Nick's ears dropped down.

"I'm sorry Jack… I, I didn't want to be like this, I just..."

A small silence broke out between them as Nick said nothing.

Jack sighed, putting on a soft but sad smile. "It's alright, Nick, I understand. You just, need a little time to yourself, I guess. I don't know what's going on, but we can talk about it later."

Nick looked at Jack sorrowfully. "Jack, I-"

Then suddenly, a faint beeping sound interrupted their conversation. The expression on both of their faces turned deadly serious as they both took out a very small receiver in their pockets; a little red dot was popping in and out at specific intervals on the device with a small sound emitting from it. The two glared each other for a brief moment before Jack instantly started up the car again and floored it to the ZPD.


	4. Suicide Mission

Jack and Nick barley spoke during their ride over to the ZPD. Although the speeding car was filled with silence, there was no sense of awkwardness this time around: only urgency. The duo wasted no time once they arrived; they quickly parked their vehicle, jogged into the building, and  went straight to Bogo's office. The chief was already waiting for them with a few documents on the table. Normal circumstances of being brought in was simply getting a call from the chief, the pager was only used in time sensitive emergencies and missions.

"Thank you two for showing up in such a timely manner, and that is, I'm afraid, all the pleasantries I can offer you. The mission you will be up taking will be commenced in exactly 28 hours from now."

Jack and Nick gave Bogo a shocked expression, even having already expected a short brief time.

"Barley a day!? Chief Bogo, there's no way that's enough time to-"

"Your entire schedule for the next 28 hours has already been planned out. This is in order to ensure sure you get the most amount of information and prep possible for maximum efficiency. Before I set the pager off, I was already conversing with an informant who will be helping with the de-briefing and case."

The two hadn't even noticed that in the corner of the room was another figure silently sitting down and waiting to be introduced. The two only looked at him once they heard the sound of the metal chair scratching against the floor. It was a rather rough looking otter that, if not for the suit, you might guess got picked off of the street.

"Nice to meet you two, my name's Oliver, and I'll be telling you about the information I have personally gathered regarding your mission. I'm sure your not happy being called last minute and being told you have almost no time to prepare, but out of all the options we had, you two were by far the most fit for this mission."

Jack and Nick glanced briefly at each other feeling a little bedazzled by the situation, waiting to see what the otter was getting at.

"You see, for the past few months, I've been working almost entirely off the radar and under cover as a guard for the drugs of a huge and relatively new, underground distributor. I'm sure you are both aware of a very similar scenario that was happening not too long ago after supposedly taking care of it; or at least, taking care of it as much as we had known at the time. I know that you of all mammals, Nick, must be wondering the most about what really happened that day."

"I'd prefer you get to the point, sir."

Nick said plainly, interrupting Oliver. But the otter didn't at all seem upset by this and silently obeyed his wishes.

"Essentially, we know for a fact who's in charge, or the people in charge I should say, of the destruction of the previous dealer's base of operations; the one that tried selling those night howler drugs. This group of men already have strong connections to the drug world, and were watching the the battle between the ZPD and the night howler dealer. We don't know if they knew of your mission the day you infiltrated his building, and it's very unlikely that they did, but essentially, they had been planning on destroying the cheetah's base and taking the drug for themselves long before that..."

The two paused for a minute in contemplation before Jack asked a question.

"So, why is it that we haven't heard any news about this for such a long time? That was over to half a year ago at this point."

"The simple answer to that is that this group is smart, very smart, in fact. While observing the little war between you two and the cheetah, the group had learned a valuable lesson. Spreading a new drug organically by word of mouth, dealers, and trying to get underground partners on board was to weak a system now. This method was particularly less effective for that cheetah due to the fact that he had been gone from Zootopia for so long and had to establish new connections that your team consistently and cleanly, severed. And so..."

Oliver paused for a brief moment to recollect his thoughts.

"as a result of this conflict, this group had learned this lesson without the repercussions of being dismantled or jailed like the cheetah was; they had decided to take a much more discreet approach. So despite having the means to, they have made absolutely no attempts to sell the drug, or even mention it's existence other than with a very select group of mammals. They were so smart about this, in fact, that their only weakness was in knowing they still needed chemists and groups of outsiders to actually make the drug, package it, and guard it during this silent period. And that is where I come in; I was one of the few hired guards for the underground facility."

Oliver looked over at the two to see their reaction thus far. As expected, they were both taking the case very seriously... but he was, in particular, staring at Nick. Oliver and Bogo had a talk before the debriefing, and they were both slightly concerned about Nick taking on a mission of this caliber so soon after the incident; especially given the case was directly linked to Judy's death.

Oliver considered himself excellent at reading people and getting information; and so far, he hadn't detected anything from the fox to suggest he was feeling too angry or getting overly emotional. The otter briefly looked over at Bogo, who blankly stared back at Oliver for a few seconds before giving him a quick nod. Neither Jack nor Nick were sure what this was about, but Oliver didn't seem interested in telling them directly.

"You know, Nick, in a lot of ways, you might consider me a bit of a... con artist, like you. However, I'm a highly trained con artist, one who's put their whole back and work into it as a legitimate career designed for infiltrating and information gathering. I'm the type of guy that gives information you then use to further infiltrate and execute an arrest, or in very extreme cases, kill the target. And in both lines of work, no matter how much one may want to, one cannot let personal feelings get in the-"

"Are you suggesting I can't do this mission because it has to do with the previous case Judy died in?"

Nick interrupted with a tinge of anger. Oliver seemed a little taken back by his sudden outburst, but quickly recovered.

"I... wasn't necessarily implying something of that nature, but it's just that me and Bogo were a little worried that-"

"Chief, you should know better than to doubt me when it comes to my work!" Nick yelled out, directing his message to Bogo. "That incident was a long time ago, and I've been officially out of the psychiatrists office for multiple months now... Is that still not enough for you!?"

Bogo's usual stern expression relaxed as he let out a hefty sigh. "I know you take your job seriously, Wilde, and that's precisely why I was worried. Because I also know that while the incident was a awhile ago, you're recovery of it was not. Trauma has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it, and I don't want it propping it's ugly head up at the wrong time and place. Your eagerness and work attitude is what got you the position your in today, but I don't want you to force yourself to do something your not ready for."

"With all do respect, sir, I think I should be the one to decide if I'm ready, or not. There's no way I'm going to stand back and let Jack go in there alone; I'm not going to let something from my past decide my future, nor will I let it get in the way of my own decisions."

"Very well then, Wilde; I believe you are right in that I should let you make that decision, considering you are more than qualified for the task. If you truly think you can handle it, than I will say nothing further. Oliver, please continue."

The Otter cleared his throat as he attempted to get his train of thought back on track.

"Right, well... getting back to the task at hand; I was stuck in the facility for a few months as a guard trying my hardest to get it friendly with staff there and get as much intelligence as I could, and I had no communication to the outside world due to their severity in security. In fact, even in terms of my charm, I got lucky in the few people I was able to get it on the most with had a good amount of knowledge about the factory and what was going on. And the reason I'm telling you all of this is because I want you two to understand how tight their security is and how smart these people running the strings are. Nick, this will by far be one of the hardest missions you have ever gone on, and even in terms of Jack here, it might end up being up on his list as well."

Oliver went up to Bogo's desk and started handing out papers to Jack and Nick, to which they instantly started scanning while listening to the Otter.

"The reason I haven't bothered mentioning the names of this group is because you're mission actually has nothing to do with apprehending them; that job will be given to the ZPD as well as the SWAT after mission success. Tomorrow night, there will be an incredibly huge meeting with almost every single one of the big underground names in drug dealing and distributing meeting this group; although most of the animals in the group itself are big names. Believe me when I say that If I could have gotten out of the facility sooner and found this information, I would have; but to be honest, it's almost a miracle I was even able to get all the information I did unscathed. Not even the subordinates of these dealers seem to know much about this meeting tomorrow, it's being kept incredibly secretive like everything else they've done. If this meeting is successful, there will be absolutely no chance of keeping this drug off the street; it will be wide spread almost everywhere in an instant with little chance of circumventing it."

Oliver paused, looking at the two briefly. Their expressions hardened as they looked over at Oliver rather than at their paper; the Otter continued.

"Your mission will be to infiltrate the underground facility directly below the estate in which the party is happening, during the party itself. Unlike what you might think, their security will most likely be at its most lax during this event. The more guards you have, the more you tend to stick out, and the more of a chance there is for information leakage. So with a somewhat limited amount of men, the distribution of security will be mostly for themselves and the dealers, not the actual facility. In this brief window of the party taking place, you two will enter an underground sewer system as detailed in the paper I gave you, go into the facility, take as many photos and physical evidence as you possibly can, and leave, preferably the way you came. The minute you guys give us the signal or we see you leave the building, the entire estate will be surrounded and we will try to make an arrest on everyone there. Do you two get the picture on how big this really is now?"

The duo didn't respond and only feverishly went back to scanning the information in the papers, absorbing as much as they possibly could. Oliver ended up cracking a little smile at how well the two were handling the briefing.

_Not a single crack in pressure or nervousness... That's a skill not even all M16 agents are able to achieve. It's already well known how good Jack is, but it seems me and Bogo were worried about Nick for nothing._

The chief cleared his throat.

"Well then, if you two have no immediate question for Oliver here, I think we should get you started on your preparation for the mission as soon as possible."

* * *

The snow fell particularly heavy that day in Tundra town. It was a seemingly quiet night in the city with only a small bit of commotion and noise being produced from the area, and some of that noise was directed from a lone estate in the outskirts of the district.

The place was quite a sight to behold considering it's relatively remote location; three stories high with mixtures of marble concrete decorating most of the mansion alongside other colorful adornments. Although not obvious at first glance, the place was, to anyone with a discerning eye, littered with guards and security keeping very watchful eyes on their surroundings.

The sound of a limousine quietly hummed through the air as it parked near the gated entrance. The driver got out of his seat and opened the back door to a stern, yet well kept, looking wolf in a suit. Adjusting his tie, he walked over to the two polar bears near the entrance, flashed a strange looking card to the two, and continued walking inside past the gate and to the front door of the mansion.

Off in the distance, Oliver, Bogo, and a few ZPD officers, where watching the estate from a far off vantage point. And In other various, seemingly remote areas surrounding the building were other ZPD and SWAT officers, all waiting for the right moment to strike.

Oliver was holding a pair of binoculars, watching the suited wolf walk past the gates. "Wade Oxford... that's the last one, if the list is to be believed."

Bogo huffed through his nostrils. "I would have thought Mr. Big would be a part of this, I've never been certain on those reports suggesting he's not into the drug trade."

"Mr. Big had to have allowed for this little arrangement to take place considering it's on his turf, but he probably doesn't know the details of what's going on. if you aren't sure of the reports, then I think this is enough to suggest he is most likely not involved in that type of business."

Oliver looked down at his watch.

"Jack and Nick should be entering right about now. From this point forward, we'll have to wait and see if they succeed."

* * *

**Boom!**

A mini-explosion was heard around Nick and Jack as they tried looking past the smoke from the wall in front of them. As expected, the sewer had just two walls separating them from entering the underground facility and right into the storage area. Nick and Jack were in their usual dark, infiltration outfit, and geared up for a multitude of potential dangers that might happen during the mission.

"Do you hear anything, Jack?" Nick said, looking at his partner who was standing very still near the storage, his ears perked up and his eye's closed.

"…No, nothing; as far as I can tell, no guard heard the explosion. If the report is to be believed, there won't be any in the hallway, either."

Jack quietly walked into the room as Nick followed suite, the fox counting a few things on his fingers to make sure he had the area and guards memorized. As they entered, the two kept to the right wall to avoid the camera overlooking the area while scanning the room; the place was mainly filled with boxes and generic equipment, and seemed to fit the report.

The duo were now hugging against the wall right underneath the camera. Nick stayed in place as he watched his partner suddenly sprint, and very skillfully, jump up and around a few crates, over to some very tall storage shelves. Climbing up the shelves, Jack made his way to the top toward the ceiling, eventually ending up right next to the camera. He carefully began to unscrew a small lid and take something out of his pocket as Nick started a conversation.

"So, are you sure this isn't the storage where the actual drugs are placed? It looks almost identical to the pictures. Cause you know, if they really are right here and we leave early, maybe we'll even get to test some of it out ourselves."

Jack rolled his eyes as he finished sticking a small device into one of the wires. Once he was sure of his work, he quickly jumped back down and didn't bother hiding from the camera at all, Nick also relaxing from against the wall.

"Both storage rooms have the same dimensions and probably the same crates, it might even be somewhat designed to look identical to confuse infiltrators, you know. But if Oliver's information is to be believed, they only store the actual drugs in a particular spot on the other side of the building. Now, no more lollygagging."

Nick, not saying much in defense, started following Jack again. But in the back of his mind, he was still trying to think of more quips to defuse the situation with. Usually he was quiet good at it, but he found himself running dry on the humor for this particular mission.

"Don't worry about the joking, Nick, it's stressful for me too. We can talk a little more once we change the camera system and take out the two guards."

Nick almost scoffed at his answer as the two very slyly exited the storage into a big corridor, keeping themselves out of view.

"You know, I don't appreciate you using sophisticated M16 equipment to read my mind and try to calm me down, it's rather cold of you. Whatever happened to just animals talking in person? We've become so reliant on technology to do everything for us that nobody even bothers making conversation, they'd rather just text and read people's minds, it's a shame really."

Nick heard the sound of a click as the door in front them started to slowly open.

Jack looked back at Nick with a smug grin. "You done?"

Nick casually walked into the room. "Yeah, yeah, fine, I get it, only talk after the camera system is disabled. Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Jack followed Nick as they walked through a room filled with various equipment and technology, not necessarily related to security. Eventually the two popped up in front of a big, white box with multiple switches and buttons of various kinds attached to it.

Nick crossed his arms disappointingly. "Seriously? This really exists? They just left access to the entire camera system on this remote box because they were too lazy to bother installing or replacing the old one?"

Nick took a somewhat large device out of one of his pack and started tinkering with the box as Jack gave him cover, responding to Nick shortly afterward.

"Just be glad it makes this part of the mission a breeze, we still have the latter half of it after all."

Just then a small little button on the device Nick was holding blinked green as it was attached to the box and injected in a few different wires.

"Don't remind me..."

Nick slowly walked away from the box as the two examined it for a quick second.

Jack put his hands on his hips. "Well then, looks like everything is set... let's begin our stroll, shall we?"

From the view of the security cameras, there was but a very brief flicker of static in all the rooms, even though the picture itself stayed consistent. The mammal in charge of looking at the cameras didn't even notice it as he was busy looking through his phone. And with the camera systems all but disabled, the two were easily able to cross the facility.

There were few to almost no guards even in the building; and of the few actually guarding, they were being rather lackadaisical about it. Jack and Nick already knew the location of where they would be, and had no trouble dispatching them anytime they were in the area. Most security doors were easily unlockable thanks to Oliver having worked there, and all alarms required minimal effort to turn off. 

Over time, the duo were able to obtain most of the crucial evidence they were seeking for the mission. Multiple pictures of the facility itself, the chemical sets, the machines helping produce the drug, and a few documents from computers containing information about the chemical equation and ingredients. Everything was going incredibly smoothly, but this was considered easy part of the mission.

Eventually, the two faced their final obstacle. As Jack and Nick walked closer, their once spry movement speed had been halted back to a casual walk. The two of them could practically feel the tension each one was giving off as the door in front of them loomed overhead. This was it, this was the last security door separating them from the actual drug. In technicality, all the two had to do was get the drugs behind the door, than leave the facility, and their mission would be complete. However...

* * *

 

"What do you mean there is no way of disarming it!"

Jack barked angrily at Oliver who wasn't doing a very good job of hiding his nervousness, expecting this reaction.

"As I just said... I didn't have enough time to gather a way to get past the door safety, the fact I even have this information at all was already by complete chance thanks to befriending someone. This door has multiple layers of security behind it's functionality to the point that even blasting the walls to the storage area would still trigger the alarm. The only plan I was able to surmise in time is that once the alarm is triggered, you must run to the spot of the drugs, store a sample into your bag and... try to escape as security flood the area..."

Even Oliver felt a bit speechless after he mentioned that last detail to them; it was a completely insane request to accept, a suicide mission. But before Nick or Jack could muster a retort, the otter swiftly replied with a sense of urgency.

"Believe me, if there was any other way to do this, we would be doing it! Do you think under normal circumstances this kind of mission would even be approved by the board? They know how how much is riding on the success of this mission, and yet despite how ludicrous my solution was... they accepted it, and now I'm asking you too as well!"

Oliver humbly bowed down to the two, not knowing what else to do in this situation.

The two looked down at the Otter before Nick spoke up. "So, is this why you decided not to mention it until now? So you wouldn't have to say it to Bogo?"

Oliver said nothing in response.

Jack let out a sigh and laid against the wall, closing his eyes. "So, what do you think, Nick? Personally, I already made up my mind, but I'll leave the decision to you."

Nick looked up at the ceiling for a moment, scratching his chin. "Same for you then, huh? Well, I suppose it can't be helped then, right?"

Oliver looked up at the two in surprise. They were both staring at him, wearing the same smug smile together. Oliver let out an exasperated gasp as a smile of his own crept on his face.

"Thank you... thank you so much! You two really are the only ones who can do this, or who will for that matter. I-"

Nick put a finger up against the Otters lips.

"Say no more. You can thank us by buying us dinner after the mission."

* * *

 

The two starred at the door for a moment longer, bracing themselves for the challenge up ahead. They knew where they had to run back to, but the possibility of getting to that place in time without getting shot was slim. They double checked on their multiple loaded pistols and gave each other a long, stern look. The two, without hesitation, grabbed each other's paws and gave them a tight grip as they continued to stare at each other, a small smirk appearing on Nick's face.

"Remember bunny... after this, were going to squeeze that damn otter of all the money he has, we'll eat out and drink together just like we always do."

Jack's face curved into a smile of his own, keeping a intense expression alongside it.

"It's a date."

And in that exact second the two simultaneously kicked the door to the storage area open, instantly triggering the sound of the alarm throughout the facility as the two ran in break neck speeds through the entrance and towards the storage area where the drug was being kept; a bag and gloves already set for taking the evidence.

* * *

 

The sound of clinking wine glasses could be heard throughout the living room of the lavish mansion on the first floor. About 40 or so mammals seemed to be at this party, including some close members to the various drug lords and dealers; nobody there was expecting anything but a positive outcome.

And just as a deer sporting a stylish black suit was laughing with some wine to a guest, he heard a little beep in his pocket. He looked down at his pants and quickly picked up the phone, flipping it open.

"Hello?"

"It's terrible, Mr. Buckington, all of the alarms for the underground facility are going off! Someone's broken in but none of the cameras are showing anything a-and-"

The deer, without a single flinch, covered his phone and looked at the confused female panther guest he was talking too.

"Sorry, I have to take this call; I'll be right back."

He casually strolled away from the guest and into a little area off the side.

"Calm down you fucking idiot. Send all personnel not immediately in the area of the guests down into the facility, and take care of it. Make sure nobody at the party knows what happening; for all intents and purposes the problem has been dealt with and there as good as dead, got it?"

"Y-Yes sir!"

The deer flipped his phone off. He turned around with a smile on his face and approached the same guest as before.

"Now, where were we?"

* * *

 

Once the two snatched evidence of the drug, the bulk of it laying mainly with Nick, they started sprinting down the hall with no attempt to hide; they knew the faster they went, the better their odds were.

"There they are!"

A wolf guard atop of a large railing shouted as he saw the duo running down a  long stretch of room with multiple chemistry sets. Without hesitation, the two started swerving to avoid the bullets the guard was shooting at them as more guards flooded in from all corners of the room.

Nick tightly held his pistol. "I'll take some of the right railing, you take the left. Once we reach into the hallway, I'll keep my gun pointed forward as you cover any possible other entrance from the sides are behind."

Nick saw Jack shoot a few bullets and the sound of a guard falling off the railing to his left.

"Already on top of it."

Right after Jack spoke up, a few guards with pistols appear in front of them; they were being surrounded faster than they had anticipated. Without hesitation, Nick calmed his breath and shot a few bullets at the two men. One bullet made direct contact with one of the guard's arteries as the other two hit the second guard in his chest; knocking the wind out of him. As he fell down, his his gun sprayed bullets into the ceiling and railing above, also coincidentally taking out a few guards coming out of the railing.

The two instantly pushed past the guards on the floor and into the hallway, cautiously looking at the multiple doors around them.

"How the hell did you become such a good shooter anyways?"

Jack shouted with a  smile between his panting from running.

"Don't ask me bunny, because even I don't know the answer; just ask whatever god created me."

In that second, a few guards popped up in front of them ready to fire, but Nick was quicker on the trigger and in a few shots, quickly took one of them out as he fell on the floor.

"Ahead, right!"

Nick shouted as he reaoded his gun. The bunny, catching his signal, pointed his gun past the fox's shoulder and shot the mammal behind the previous one, taking him out instantly.

Despite guards coming out left and the right, the two were making quick progress toward their destination. Their impeccable teamwork combined with a few lucky misses were making them seem almost unstoppable to the barrage of guards pouring out to them.

_We can do it, we can make it!_

Nick started to think to himself as they entered the final long stretch of room which, afterward, lead them to the storage area and the explosive exit they created. But as they started sprinting out in the open, they heard something... off.

Footsteps.

Jack and Nick looked up as they while running, only to see a railing filled with 6 different guards all holding machine guns near an entrance that wasn't there before. And after a brief moment of eye contact, the guards begun to pull the trigger. And once they heard the click of their guns, the two instantly darted to the left near a wall as a hailstorm of bullets following suite.

They quickly ducked behind it as the rain of bullets continued. The two took the moment to get their breath back for the first time sense they started running.

"Haaa, damn... that was close..." Nick said, relaxing from behind the wall.

"Y-Yeah... a little to close" Jack said next to him, strained

Nick's ears perked up at the tone of his voice. He quickly turned his head around to Jack, only to see him clutching on the bottom side of his stomach, blood spilling out and leaking through his paw.

Panic immediately spread over Nick's face as he quickly scurried up to the bunny, carefully holding him and looking down at him.

"No, no, no, no, no, Jack! Shit!"

Memories of the incident with Judy started to flood back into his mind as he looked down at Jack. He could vividly see the female bunny bleeding before him, seeing her body unconscious, in the hospital bed...

Nick started darting his eyes back and forth around the bunny and at the wound, his immediate reaction was to start getting his first aid kit out, but jack grabbed his arm with his other paw.

"N-Nick stop… there i-isn't enough time, it won't do any-"

"I have to do something!"

Jack didn't respond right away, taking a moment to collect his breathe while straining his head up a little.

"Ah, N-Nick, you have to leave me here… if you escape, you can still-"

But without even listening to his words, nick promptly lifted Jack up with one of his paws.

"...Wrap your arms around my neck."

Jack looked up at Nick in confusion. "Ni-"

"Just do it!"

Not finding the words or time to argue with him, Jack did as he said and held on to him tightly; alleviating a bit of weight on the fox's arm. Nick began to stand up from cover and sprinted down the other side of the hallway away from the guards pouring through.

In that moment, when he had seen Jack on the ground bleeding, a multitude of emotions had flooded through the fox's mind. Everything from panic, to anxiety, to stress, depression, anger… it all weld up inside him as the memories of his last mission came out to haunt him. Yet in that small time frame of all these potent emotions attacking him from all sides, he didn't falter; instead, he felt a surge of motivation within him. His brain started working overtime, and Nick was able to lay out a plan.

The fox ran away from the guards and started running down another side of the hallway. And as each foot touched down on the floor one after another, he could feel an odd spring in his step; his soles felt strangely light. His entire body felt like it was, in fact, in the best shape of his life; He didn't even feel weighed down by holding up an entire bunny.

With relative ease, Nick skillfully avoided gun shots and guards pouring in left and right after him. Using his other free hand, he held a pistol and started aiming it at a few mammals directly in his way; but for some reason, his firing felt sluggish. As he held his sight near one of the guards head and pulled the trigger, he felt like he was almost waiting for his finger to fully push down on the trigger. He could feel the millisecond that the bullet had left the barrel and immediately moved his gun towards another guard. He was expecting the other guard to start running or at least point his gun at him in response, but he was almost frozen.

Nick clicked the trigger again, firing another bullet directly at the other mammals head. For every shot, he was given a perfect amount of time to align each one perfectly with almost no error. He took down the each target with ease as he continued forward made his way through the facility.

The memories of Nick's failure, the trauma he experienced and worked with to get over, it didn't hinder him in the slightest. The memories had, instead, surged within him a different emotion, one that had completely thrown out all other feelings and replaced it with… determination.

Nick scowled as he aimed his gun at yet another guard in front of him.

_If they want to take Jack away from me, they can do it over my cold, dead body!_

Jack almost couldn't believe what he was seeing happen before his very eyes. Never once had he seen Nick run so swiftly yet so incredibly calculated before. Even on sharp turns, he would take his momentum into account and jump on walls and turn himself around, almost as if he were a rabbit himself. And his accuracy seemed almost unreal. Anyone caught in his sight didn't even have a chance to react; every pulled trigger was a single and deliberate shot that took down the target without fail.

Against all the odds, Nick was shooting down everyone in his path and avoiding every single bullet that grazed by them. And as he continued to go further, unscathed, some of the guards started to flee. The mammals could feel an old instinct of fear run through them as the fox in front of them coldly took them out; one, after another, after another.

Even with a multitude of questions running through the bunny's mind at this moment the most confusing of them that he could feel was wondering where the hell Nick was going. And just as he asked himself, Jack suddenly noticed they were above ground. They had somehow looped around onto the railing where the mammals that shot Jack were at.

_There it is!_

Nick thought to himself as he saw the opened up passage way that had sparked a thought in his brain earlier. The whole time they were running and being shot at, the two guards next to the opening halted their guns; unlike everyone else they weren't trying to follow them. And If they weren't following them, that that meant they had to be guarding something; the passage way itself. It was at that moment that Nick knew it lead to an exit.

Nick sprinted at the two guards who, in panic, pointed their guns at him; but like everyone else before them, Nick instantly took them out with one of Jack's loaded pistol's, having discarded the other ones. And with a swift turn, he headed straight up the passage and stairs; running for dear life as a few gunshots were heard behind him. When he got up to the top, he seemed to be in an office of some kind, but had no time to discern. He saw the door exiting the place, and swiftly broke it open using his momentum and feet.

And as the door snapped open, various gasps could be heard throughout the room as all the guests confusingly looked toward the sound. A Fox, holding a rabbit, was suddenly seen sprinting right into the middle of the living room and jumping straight over the large table where the guests were gathered. Every single eye in the place was fixated on the fox above them in complete shock. Even the guards themselves didn't pull out there gun or responded in any way, they were so completely flabbergasted at what was happening that they hesitated on what to do. Eventually, Nick landed back down on his feet and continued sprinting right out of the front entrance.

Oliver stared down at the mansion for a moment and squinted his eyes. He noticed someone wassuddenly coming out of the building with incredible speed.

"Who the hell is that..."

Bogo looked over at the Oliver as he swiftly put his binoculars back on, seeing Nick running out with Jack in one of his hands.

"It's him! It's Nick! Sound the signal, go in now!"

Nick kept sprinting down through the yard towards the gate as a few of the guards behind him started to chase him. Before they could get anywhere near him however, the fox disappeared behind two ZPD cars that rammed their way through the gate and right past him. Then more ZPD cars, officers, SWAT vans and even helicopters started to completely surround the building, almost appearing from thin air.

Nick started slowing down as he saw a few officers approach the somewhat bloodied fox, but he gave them no chance to talk.

"Get the ambulance! Jack needs a hospital right now!"

The officers nodded at him and started running away from NIck towards an ambulance on hold.

"Ah… Nick"

Nick quickly looked down at Jack, dropping his gun from his other hand and using it to support him further.

"T-Thanks... it was getting hard to hold on... I think I'm losing to much b-blood." Jack put on a pained smile.

Nick clutched the rabbit tighter. "Don't worry, just hold on a little longer, an ambulance will be here any second and you'll be ok!"

"Hey Nick… do you think I'll get a chance to try the wine at that restaurant? I think that damned otter owes me more than just a dinner..."

Jack's breathing slowed down as Nick clutched him even tighter, the fox trying to halt his tears.

"Of course fluff... you'll get as much wine as you want. By the end of the day, we'll have to pay the butlers to carry us all the way home."

Jack let out a small giggle as he felt his eyelids close.

"I'd... like... that."

Nick's eyes widened as the ambulance showed up behind him.

"Jack?... Jack!"

Suddenly, two animals from the ambulance hurried in front of Nick and took Jack from his paws, putting him on a bed.

"W-Wait, I-" One of the animals stood in front of nick as the bed was being taken into the ambulance.

"Don't worry, sir, I just checked his pulse and he's still breathing; he's just unconscious. We'll take him right away to the-"

"Take me with you!" Nick suddenly shouted before calming down his voice.

"…Please."

* * *

Silence filled the air of the ZPD infirmary. A single room with Nick sitting on a chair across from Jack, where the only sounds that could be heard was Jack's occasional breathing and his heart rate monitor. The scenario was  eerily similar to what happened almost half a year ago with Judy. A small part of Nick almost felt like running away right now, just taking Jack out of his bed and running far away from this room. But of course, Nick knew he couldn't do that, so he held onto his fists and forced himself to sit still.

Meanwhile, chief Bogo was just a few rooms down from where Jack and Nick were.

"So... how is he?"

The nurse shook his head at him. "Sorry chief, we don't know yet. Were still waiting on the scans from the doctor, until those are complete we don't really know how much damage has taken place."

"I see…" Bogo looked away from the nurse, eliciting a small silence between the two.

"...Uhm sir, should I ask Nick to let him rest? I know were working on the scans, but visitor hours are almost over and I know you're st-"

"Let him be."

The nurse looked at Bogo for a moment.

"But sir-"

"I said let him stay, Tina. You don't need to know the context of what that fox has been through, he deserves to know the answers sooner than anyone else."

The chief quickly got up and left the room, the nurse only nodding in return.

Nick continued to sit next to Jack in silence. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but to think of the last time he was here, about Judy's death. He remembered one of the biggest grievances he had with her untimely passing; not just being unable to save her or spend time with her, but never getting close to her. For the longest time, he had kept all those feelings and emotions he had felt for Judy inside, locked away in a tight steel cage. He remembered telling himself to take it slow; don't push the matter, don't bring it up to her, just let things naturally progress, even if it meant just staying friends.

But in hindsight, that kind of thinking was just an excuse; an excuses that wasn't aligned with how he truly felt deep inside. No, the real reason was as simple as he was afraid of opening himself up. Way before Jack and Judy, that's what his entire life had been like, feeling too afraid and unsure of ever being open. It was like a little mask he wore to protect himself from feeling any pain from others during his con artist life style; at least, that's what Jessica told him. Judy got closer to Nick than any other mammal he had ever known before her, she had opened up a lot of things inside himself that he tried hiding away, as well as a new emotion he hadn't felt before, love.

But out of everything about himself, that was the one he was most afraid of unlocking, the one with the most potential for harm. And so, he kept it secret; not only from Judy, but himself. And before he had realized it, she was gone. But had he learned his lesson? No, not at all. Jack had taken over his life around the same time Judy had left his. He became a beam of light and pillar of support for the fox during that trying period of time while somehow managing to even succeed in getting Nick out of such a terrible rut.

And before he had even known it, his locked up feelings had turned into a new color; changed into a different tune and once again, started to try and come out. In fact, it leaked out even stronger than ever before thanks to that one accidental kiss that drunken night. Yet even so, he rejected them.

_And now… here you are again, Nick. Alone... in the infirmary, with the bunny you care about more than your own life. You have no idea if he's going to make it out, and you didn't tell him a damn thing. You had so many opportunities that day. You could have not lied to him about what happened that night, told him after the movies, even during training; But still, you hide them._

Nick held onto his knees tightly.

_You stupid fox, when are you going to learn your lesson! Even if you learned it now, you don't even know if it's already too late!_

Nick almost dug into his own knees as the emotions boiled higher, the fox feeling his eyes strain again.

"Stupid... so stupid!"

"Well… not all the time."

Nick opened his eyes wide in surprise before hastily turning his head over towards Jack, seeing the bunny awake and looking over at him.

"You know, you have a bad habit of beating yourself up to much."

"Jack!"

Nick quickly got out of his seat and went towards the bunny, holding his paw gently.

"Jack are you-"

Suddenly, the door to the room was opened up before he could say anything more, the two animals quickly darting their eyes over to an ant-eater in a doctor's outfit.

"Oh, I see you're still here; I suppose the chief let you stay after hours."

Nick gave his full attention to the ant-eater. "Doctor, how is he, is he going to be-"

The doctor laughed. "Oh, he'll be quiet alright, Mr. Wilde, don't you worry. After a full scan, it seems that the bullet had completely missed all of Jack's vital organs; and not only that, It didn't even hit any major nerves or well... much of anything."

Jack seemed even more surprised than Nick at this revelation. "Seriously!?"

"Very seriously! In all honesty, the angle of the shot and location was incredibly lucky, the only part you could consider negative was the heavy bleeding; but considering how fast we were able to get you here and transfuse blood, it was of no issue. I think you should be able to leave the hospital in less than two weeks time with full walking capacity. Ah, but you'll probably want to wait at least a month before doing any-"

Suddenly, Nick went up and almost comically hugged the doctor with all of his might.

"Ooohh. thank you. thank you. thank you doctor! I could just kiss you right now if you uh.. weren't an ant eater, and I maybe knew your name."

The doctor only laughed at Nick's antics. "The names Dr. Agnus… but I'd prefer you don't kiss me now that you know my name."

Nick looked down at the doctor for a moment and awkwardly released his hold and stepped back. "Ah right, sorry. Well, it works out sense I have a strict code against kissing folks with the last name Agnus anyways."

Jack started to snicker. In fact, his snickering became louder as it turned into a small laugh, then a big laugh even. All of the sudden, Jack found himself laughing almost uncontrollably despite the pain in his lower right stomach.

Nick looked back at the bunny with a a concerned smile.

"Alright bunny, come on, it wasn't that good of a gag. Let's not have you opening up your wound here; that can wait for a better joke."

Jack's laugh slowly subsided as he wiped a few tears from his eyes.

"Haha, no, it's… it's not that. It's just I'm… so happy to see the old you back, Nick."

The fox slowly walked over to the bunny and gave him a gentle but heartfelt hug as Jack returned the favor.

"I'm sorry, Jack… and I really mean it. I've been acting... well... I promise I'll make it up to you." Nick let go of the hug and put his hands on his shoulders. "How about this; the very day you get out of the hospital, I, using all of Oliver's money, will take you out just like I promised. It'll be one of Zootopia's best and most expensive restaurants out there, with equally as expensive wine."

Jack smiled.

"Really, I should be the one doing something for you sense you saved my life, but... I suppose using Oliver's money isn't really a favor sense were both taking something from that. So in that case, you got yourself a deal." 


	5. Revelation

Nick adjusted his suit and tie as he looked in the mirror. He checked out every single little detail on himself to make sure that he looked perfect for the dinner tonight: cleaned teeth, groomed fur, properly dressed attire, he wanted to make sure he looked immaculate for tonight's dinner.

Although he didn't know too many connections when it came to some of the fancier parts of town, he was still able to get in contact with a few guys, who may have known a few guys that knew someone that could perhaps get him and Jack a reservation at one of the hottest and most expensive restaurants in Zootopia. And with a bit of luck and sly charm the fox managed to pull off a reservation at the place. He knew exactly what the best red wine option was available in the restaurant as well as even some of the better options in their appetizers to start the two of them off with; the whole evening was perfectly planned out.

As Nick finished adjusting his tie, he made eye contact with himself in the mirror for a brief moment and begin feeling a tinge of nervousness. He had done extravagant plans like this in the past as a con artist, but this was way different then trying to get a few bucks off some hungry rodents. His nervousness was as plain as the muzzle on his face, and he wasn't having any of it.

"Alright, Nick, come on, you can do better than this; I mean look at you, your suit fits perfectly and your cleaned head to toe. You took half an hour long shower and even bought a few grooming tools just so that every single follicle of fur on your body would look perfect. And I mean really, you've been out to eat with Jack how many times now? Way more then you could ever count in that brain of yours, no matter how brilliantly smart you are. At the end of the day this is just another hang out session like any other. And sure maybe it's a little bit of a fancier restaurant then normal but now got plenty of experience with that thanks to your new bunny friend and job."

Nick looked at the reflection of his eyes, still reading himself.

"...Alright so maayybbbee your other hang out sessions haven't involved knowing you'd fallen for that same bunny, and maybe those other times eating out also didn't include trying to think of the right time to ask if he was.. interested in you."

Nick saw his face get more nervous and a small frown appear.

"But... but even so, this is nothing you can't handle!"

He said while raising straightening his posture.

"You are the slyest, most charming and devilishly handsome fox out there. It doesn't matter what pain you're going through, how nervous you really are or what you're thinking, you can exude confidence in any situation your put through."

Nick gave himself a smug grin in the mirror.

"You know exactly how this evening is going to pan out. Once the rabbit gives you a compliment, something Jack always does when he starts to feel happy, you slyly go in for the kill. You look him dead in the eyes with that soft and sweet gaze of yours, you tell him - Jack, there's another reason I've taken you out here tonight. Sure, part of it is to drain that otter of all his money and enjoy a fantastic meal out, but to be honest... the main attraction on my mind is in front of me right now.

Nick extended his paw out and pretended like he was holding Jack's.

"We've been through thick and thin on more times then I can count on my paw, not even including what happened just a few weeks ago. And even though I don't know exactly when it happened... something started to spark inside me when I was with you. The way you give off that suave grin when you joke, the way your face lights up when your happy, the way your ears sometimes twitch when you feel embarrassed; I really can't think of a single thing I dislike about you. A long time ago, when I was with Judy, I made the mistake of hiding my emotions from her, never getting the chance to be truly close with her like I wanted to in the back of my mind; and I don't intend to make that mistake again. I want to be more than just good friends with you, Jack, I want you to be my _real_ partner. And even if you're unsure right now... If you'll at least give me the chance, I promise you won't regret it.'

After his speech, the fox stood upright and put back on his self-assured grin; pointing both fingers at himself.

"You got this, slick. Now go out there and show that bunny the night of his life."

* * *

Nick parked his car at the ZPD and looked at the clock, about 6:30pm, right on time. He got out and started walking towards the entrance to the building until he noticed that Jack was already waiting right outside for him. He took off his sunglasses he didn't even need and gave the rabbit a warm grin as Jack did the same; the two walking closer to one another as they smiled.

Unlike when he was visiting beforehand, Jack looked much healthier and livelier, perhaps just because he was out of the old patient  garb and in his usual sleek uniform.

Nick looked down at his partner as they halted in front of one another. "Well, well, you're looking much better now, though I'm not sure if it's just the suit or if it's actually you."

"Well, I'd say it's a bit of both; after all, I made a much faster recovery then expected. Just got rid of the bandages on it, and it doesn't even hurt anymore. Heck, if I wanted to, I could probably even sprint."

Nick chuckled. "Perhaps, but maybe lay low on the high impact exercise for a while; better safe than sorry."

Jack rolled his eyes and started to walk past him to the car.

"What are you, my dad? I thought we were going to a nice restaurant, not listening to you try to lecture me."

"Ap, ap, hold up Fluff!"

Nick suddenly ran in front of Jack towards the car, causing the bunny to look at him a little confused. Nick opened up the door to the front seat before bowing his head down.

"Ladies first."

Jack gave Nick a somewhat irritated look as he started walking towards his seat, only to suddenly flick the fox's nose on the way up to his seat; causing Nick to instantly put his paws around his front muzzle.

Jack looked down at the surprised fox with a sly smile. "Thanks, but I think you should check that nose of yours; last I checked, I'm still a male. Now quit messing about and let's go."

Jack closed his door as the fox replied softly.

"Not that it matters anyways, I treat everyone equally on a date."

Jack looked down at Nick, inquisitively, through the car window.

"Did you say something?"

Nick walked around the car and plopped himself down in the driver seat, putting on his sunglasses.

"Nothing important."

* * *

Jack looked around in awe as the two entered the front of the building. The place was almost like someone turned a 1900's mansion into a full-fledged restaurant. The rather spacious area they were in was filled with more priceless adornments then the eye could see: lavish red carpeting with marble pillars, classic works of arts, and a packed house filled with the upper echelon of Zootopia.

A husky waiter looked at the two with a patient smile as he approached them.

"Excuse me, sirs, are you Nick Wilde and Jack Savage?"

Nick gave the waiter his typical smug grin.

"Yes, but I'd prefer you don't refer to us as primitives, I think you'll find we are both rather refined and civilized."

Jack snickered and nudged the fox.

"Nick, come on, save the jokes for later."

The waiter smiled and put a hand up. "No, it is quiet alright; if you're here then I think you more then deserve to do a little jesting. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to your seats."

The duo silently followed the waiter as they were taking in the grandiose nature of the restaurant, eyeing some of the famous members of Zootopia that were scattered throughout the place. Jack. in particular. seemed to be enjoying the site, but soon found himself awe struck, once again, after seeing their seats. Nick had gotten a table on the second floor of the building right next to a window; and the window had a fantastic view of the city lit up at night.

"Here you are, sirs, please take your time looking at the menu: I'll be back shortly."

Jack almost jumped up on his seat as he looked through the glass.

"Holy shit, Nick, how did you get seats like this in a place like this! In fact, how the hell did you get us in here anyways? I didn't think when you said the most expensive place in Zootopia you were being so literal."

Nick smiled and at Jack's response as he sat himself across from him.

"You know, I may be sarcastic, but I've never lied to you; when I make a promise, I aim to keep it. Not to mention, that isn't the only view we have up here."

Nick pointed in the other direction from them. Jack turned his head to where he was pointing and saw a decently wide view of most the patrons in the restaurant, and it took only a few seconds for Jack to connect the dots.

"Oh my gosh, Nick, that's such a great idea; you even thought of that too!?"

Nick only grinned slyly at the bunny as he pointed to a specific pair on the first floor.

"See that female panther down there? I'm willing to bet she's only about maybe in college at best, while the Moose across from her looks like he's almost in his 50's at best. Now, the moose has a wedding ring, is a prey, and the panther has no rings. What do you think the story is there?"

The two laughed as they enjoyed another sip of their expensive red wine; the entire bottle sitting at the middle of the table for the two alongside some appetizers. Nick was looking down at a male chipmunk in some of the smaller seats with about three other female chipmunks surrounding him; all in his arms reach.

"And so, after he calls his dad, complaining more about how he absolutely just needs a few tens of thousands in cash to help pay off some extra loan on his 5th car deal, he probably, before coming here, just met these three at some random outside bar around the area. And then-"

But Nick stopped talking as he glanced over at Jack. The rabbit was looking away from him towards the window with a bit of a glazed look in his eyes, his smile seeming pretty much gone.

"...Hey Jack, are you okay?"

Jack suddenly flickered back to life and quickly put back on a grin.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I was just dozing off about something, I'm fine."

Jack didn't like talking about everything with Nick, but he considered the two of them to be in a fairly open relationship so to speak; it was rare for them to hide such obvious things from one another.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Jack shook his head.

"No, it's fine, I was just thinking of some dumb memories in my past, it's really nothing to worry about."

Jack went back to looking out the window and took another sip of wine as Nick stared at him with a seemingly bored expression; though on the inside, he was starting to feel a bit concerned.

_That's the second time Jack did that while I was telling a story. And now, all the sudden, there's an awkward silence in the air... Shit, did I screw something up? Did I maybe accidentally hit a nerve without knowing?_

Feeling a bit apprehensive, Nick casually took antother sip of his wine thinking of where to take the conversation.

"Hey Nick… is there, something you wanted to tell me, though?"

Nick's eyes went a little wide as he almost choked up on the wine he was drinking, putting his hand near chest not to cough too much. And in that instant, the smug and cool demeanor he was carrying for most of the night melted away like plastic in a furnace. In his mind, he wanted to tell Jack on his own terms when the two were happily eating their meals and had a few glasses of wine in their system, he was not at all expecting to actually be asked the question by Jack.

Nick nervously looked over at the rabbit with a slight chuckle. "Huh, question? What do you mean? I just wanted to take us out for a nice dinner like I promised."

Nick trying to recover, relaxed back down in his seat and went for another sip; this time, with a bit more caution.

_Real smooth there, slick, there's no way he would catch that one…_

Jack looked down sadly at the table for a very brief moment before he changed his expression a bit more neutrally

"Hmm, I see…"

Nick felt like he could practically feel the sweat starting to drip off from his face as he looked off to the side with a not so confident grin; still desperately trying to maintain the situation.

"W-Well, how about we-"

"Dinner is ready, Sirs"

The waiter suddenly said as he started putting down there plates, Nick immediately jumping in on the situation to bring up the mood.

"Oh, excellent, thank you!. You know, I was almost a bit surprised at first when you ordered their house salad, but I keep forgetting you rabbits aren't big into grown meat,; though I have to admit, that vegetarian sushi you got was pretty decent."

Jack, at first, didn't respond; seeming to only stare at his dish for a moment. A small myriad of different feelings seemed to cross his face as he suddenly started laughing in a low tone and putting his hands on his face.

"Aahh jeez, I'm… I'm sorry Nick. I... I guess I really brought this whole dinner down, huh? I uh.,. I didn't mean to, I was just-"

Nick reached his hand out across the table and gently held at one of Jack's paws.

"Jack, It's fine. I'm not a mind reader, but I'm willing to bet you have more then a few thoughts and emotions running through your head because of what happened in the last mission, or maybe there's something else suddenly appearing in your life. But regardless of what it is, you don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want; we can save it for later."

Jack let out a sigh.

"Right... later. Well uhm, let's not linger around that subject any longer, alright? Tell me more about those four chipmunks."

And so, the night at the restaurant continued as the two enjoyed their lavish meal. But ever since that event earlier, their conversations never truly recovered all the way through like Nick had hoped. They both tried their best, but Jack still occasionally came off as distant, or a bit awkward, and Nick himself didn't understand quiet why.

The fox considered himself good at reading animals, hell, he knew Jack better then most mammals; but the rabbit was also surprisingly good at knowing how to keep to himself, almost the opposite of Judy in that regard. Jack avoided all the tricks in his book and little advancements he tried on the subject, even though Nick admitted he didn't execute them as slyly as he normally could. And so, as a result, Nick couldn't find the right time to express his feelings during the dinner like he had planned. Afterward unfortunately, the ride home wasn't much better an opportunity for him. Their feign attempt to upkeep a cheery attitude with one another mostly dropped once they got into the car together; though it was mainly just Jack who wasn't responsive. The two barley exchanged anything that could even be considered a real conversation; the few attempts Nick made failed right away.

As the silence dawned on them, Nick's mind began to wonder. He kept a neutral demeanor on his face as he drove, but it was hardly how he really felt

_Some night that turned out to be, Nick. You know what you should have done? You should have tried to actually press him on it. Maybe if you were actually smooth you could have eased whatever was on his mind; or better yet, maybe just have taken that opportunity and completely spill the beans. And now, the atmosphere is even more oppressive. I can't even start a conversation, and Jack still won't tell me what he's thinking... Does he maybe know the truth? Or is it something else in his life? I really can't tell..._

Before his frustration started showing on his face, Nick swiftly parked his car in front of Jack's apartment.

"…We're here."

Jack looked up from his seat turning his head around, caught a bit off guard. "Huh? Oh, right..." 

Nick looked over at the bunny with a bit of a concerned frown before speaking up again.

"Do you... want me to walk you to your apartments?"

"Oh uhm, yeah, sure..."

The two silently walked with each other as they started getting in the elevator. Nick kept his face forward towards the elevator door, but occasionally glanced down at Jack as he thought to himself.

_I have to tell him, today. I don't care what's going on through that bunny's head, there's no way I'm leaving here without him knowing! I need to find an excuse to stay over, even if just for a little while._

As the duo walked up to Jack's door step and the rabbit started opening his door, Nick immediately chimed in before Jack could even open his mouth.

"Hey, Jack, listen. I know this sounds last minute and... I know things were a little awkward at the restaurant, but what's say we dump all this fancy get up and just hang out like usual, huh?"

Jack looked up at Nick with a neutral and distant expression.

"Like… usual?..."

Nick nodded at him with a wide smile and entered his apartment without hesitation, flicking on the lights.

"I mean, sure, why not? You know there's always plenty of other bad movies we could watch together. Maybe this time around, we can just bust out a few beers and relax like old times. Oh, I know! We can even-"

But Nick's overly optimistic expression was frozen solid as he turned around to look at Jack. The bunny was standing there, staring at Nick with his ears down and a dismal expression on his face; and for the first time ever, Nick saw the rabbit start to tear up. The two of them have shared a number of emotions with one another, and Nick on many occasions confided with the rabbit, but not once had he ever seen Jack cry.

"You know… don't you..."

Jack said with a shaky voice. Nick looked nervously as the rabbit.

"K-Know what?"

"Come on, Nick, do you think I haven't noticed the way you've been acting up to this point!? T-The dinner and the events that happened a few weeks ago? I've known you a long time Nick, and I can tell when something is up. Even if it's subtle and not easy to read, I can tell you've been acting different!" 

Nick's ears folded down. "I... It's not like I... I-I just-"

"Back then… a couple of days before we were given that mission, you lied to me, didn't you?"

Nick stared at Jack with sorrowful eyes for a moment, unable to find any words to say to him.

"...That day, when I got too drunk and I couldn't remember what I did, you said all I did was pass out… But I did something, didn't I? Something that I can't take back, and ever sense then, you've started acting strange around me, telling me it's nothing, trying to make it up to me..."

A few more tears started to swell into the rabbit's eyes as he continued.

"And even this whole dinner was partially to blame for those events, wasn't it? Don't think I haven't caught on or haven't known what you've been doing!" 

Jack paused for a moment and clutched his fist.

"You've… You've known I've fallen for you for a long time now, haven't you?"

Nick's ears twitched.

"J-Jack-"

"You Knew that! But... you didn't want to tell me. You were afraid of losing the friendship we have now, right? You were afraid that If you told me you weren't interested, we'd become more distant..."

Jack's body stiffened as he attempted to hold back the emotions welling up inside of him.

"And even this 'date' was a feigned attempt in trying to reciprocate that same feeling I have for you I bet. Maybe you were hoping to find a way to return the feeling, or just trying to make me feel better..."

Jack's body began to shack lightly as tears flowed out of his eyes.

"But… but I don't want you to fake emotions for me! I don't want some kind of pretend love from you, I just want to be with you, the real you! And... and I don't care if you don't love me, but… But I still just… I just!..."

Jack put his hands on his face as he lost control of his emotions, breaking into a sob.

Nick stood still in front of Jack for a brief moment. From an outside perspective, his expression might seem neutral, or almost stoic. But at that moment, Nick was also feeling something well up inside him, and it was one simple feeling.

Stupidity.

An overwhelming feeling of complete and utter stupidity. The amount of things he could have done or said to prevent this situation from ever occurring was massive; and while both of them may have been to blame for this, Nick felt the majority of the blame was on himself. 

"You dumb bunny…"

Nick walked up to Jack. The rabbit removed his hands from his red eyes and looked up at him. But he had no time to think, or react as Nick, with one fell swoop, put his muzzle right up towards Jack's own and started giving him a relentless, loving kiss. Knowing that words would only waste time, Nick spoke to Jack using only action. He slowly begun caressing his hand along the back side of Jack's head while only continuing to kiss and push himself onto the rabbit.

Jack, at that moment, felt his emotions change into a state of complete and utter disarray. His mind couldn't at all register what was happening; but luckily for him, his instinct took a hold of him faster than his thoughts. Eventually, Jack found himself closing his eyes along with Nick's and succumbing to the kiss. His own tongue started to join up with the fox's as he reached his own shorter hand around Nick's neck and reciprocated in full.

But the kiss didn't stop there. The two had been holding up there emotions all the way up to this point, and neither of them were ready for this to end: and so it quickly escalated. Nick started becoming more assertive both with his tongue as well as lips, lightly jerking his head against the bunny as Jack also did the same. The only time their lips separated was to force themselves to get a few quick breathes in before they both swiftly went back for more.

Then suddenly, Nick pushed Jack up against the side of the couch while still continuing to lustfully kiss him.

"Jack..."

Nick started to speak quickly between their kissing and breathing, taking his maw away from the rabbit for a moment.

"I love you."

Nick pressed his lips back up against Jack's again.

"I love you… I love you."

Nick continued to say a few times more softly between every separation of their kiss that he could afford, eventually the fox simply focusing back on their embrace.

But the two had become a bit to forceful as they ended up falling off the side of the couch right onto the couch itself. The two let out a small "ummf" as Nick found himself suddenly laying on top of Jack; and as they laid there, their eyes ended up locking with one another. And as the meaning of what this event really meant for the two began to dawn on them, the intensity in their silent gaze began to flare.

Jack's eyes stared confusingly into Nick's as his mind desperately tried to form a coherent sentence.

"Nick… I… you... for how..."

"I can't really say how long I've felt this way. That night, a few weeks ago, what had happened was... we well... ended up drunkenly kissing each other before bed. It wasn't anything as intense as this though; it was only for a few seconds, but I guess that's all it took for me to realize how much I liked you. But like with Judy I think… I think my feelings for you have been there for a while."

Jack shook his head in disbelief before letting out a scoffing laugh. "God I... I can't believe it. I feel so god damn stupid now, I should have-"

Nick quickly put his finger up against Jack's face.

"Hey, don't forget, I'm just as stupid of a fox as you are a bunny. If I were actually smart, I wouldn't have lied to you about what happened that night and none of this would have happened."

Jack snickered lightly in response, putting on a grin

"And I suppose if I was a smart, I would have also been more straight forward with my own feelings and taken the plunge instead of hiding them."

Nick smiled back at him.

"Which, by the way, I must say you do an excellent job of hiding that, maybe even more so then me."

Jack frowned a little bit, catching his faint tonal change almost too well.

"I know it seems bad, but I had my own reasoning's too. Back in my M16 days, especially outside of Zootopia, my missions were my life. It isn't like here with the longest infiltration lasting at best a week or two; I'd be undercover for literal months and in a few cases, years, playing as a character, almost becoming this new persona. Keeping your emotions in check, making sure nobody saw them unless you let them: I was professionally trained to do exactly that, very different from how you learned too. But..."

Jack's face turned somewhat bitter as he recalled the events of the dinner today.

"But despite all my professional training, despite how confident I've always been in being able to stay in control no matter what... that dinner of all things was what pushed me. Honestly the restaurant, the food the everything was... absolutely perfect, to perfect. For every bite of that sushi i had, every sip of wine I took, and every story you told me, it was like a small stab at my heart."

Nick couldn't help but frown at that last statement. Out of all the things he could have done, the idea that his efforts in trying to make Jack happy actually hurt him almost made Nick heartbroken.

Jack, seeming to detect this, reassuringly rubbed his paw on Nick's chest. "You don't need to feel bad, Nick, it was just me being a dumb bunny. Believe it or not, before all this, I had actually convinced myself that a 'us' would never be a thing. Back when I was trying to help you with Judy's death, I actually had a secret, fledgling desire to be with you. I thought that if Judy couldn't be there for you that I could be instead, and maybe even closer. But over time, it began to feel more like a fantasy dream then anything, like I was just being selfish in thinking that it could ever even happen. So I decided that even if I was just a friend forever, being there to support you was what mattered the most, not my interests. The idea that your strange acting was because you loved me didn't even occur to me, and so I made some... bad assumptions, and it all lead up to here.

Jack laughed somberly. "Kind of pathetic in hindsight, isn't it?"

Nick gave Jack a caring glare as he slowly caressed his cheeks, the rabbit closing his eyes in response and leaning his head slightly closer to the fox's paws.

"You're the only one here that thinks that, Jack, neither of us are perfect... and we never will be."

 

Jack gave Nick a warm, tearful smile as he immediately went in for a strong and loving hug.

And with that hug, for the first time in a long while, there was no awkwardness to accompany their silence. The two had finally achieved an atmosphere between them that was peaceful; a warming silence that was a true testimony for how comfortable the duo really were with each other at this very moment. 

"...Hey Jack?"

the rabbit's ears perked up as looked at Nick curiously.

"Yes?"

"You know, back when Judy was still around, one way we both avoided getting into each other's fur a lot was learning to be open with one another. Course, when I say we, i mainly mean me; she was already an open book, really. So much so, in fact, that it half forced me to be more open too; and I think if you can work on that, we won't be having another situation like this. It's not like we need to say everything about each other right away or something, but when the time is right, we should definitely talk with each other about it. If you can follow that then maybe, just maybe... I'll consider dating you."

Jack looked up in the air and put a finger on his chin, pondering

"Hmmmm, I don't know…"

"Plus, you'll get the chance to kiss a devilishly handsome fox every night."

Jack let out a small snicker. "Alright, Mr. Slick, you got yourself a deal; just so long as you don't mind having a bunny for a partner." 

Jack gave Nick an enticing grin as the Nick did the same.

"Honey, I've been having rabbit's as partners for all my life, or at least for the parts of my life that matter; wouldn't say I'd have it any other way."

The two moved their faces in closer to each other while closing their eyes, engaging in a more delicate and softer kiss then before. And during their kiss, Nick reached one of his hands around the bunny and gave his rump a soft squeeze, causing Jack to jump in surprise.

"W-Woah hey, what are you doing!"

Nick amusingly chuckled.

"What? It was just a little playful pinch. And you know, we have quite a bit of free time again, so I was thinking-"

Then, surprising the both of them, the TV suddenly turned on to the news. Neither of them had realized Jack's remote had gotten pushed under the couch and they had accidentally hit the power button.

"-There has been no report about who had sent this radio signal, but shortly after the broadcast had ended, half of the station that was transmitting this message had gone up in flames. There seemed to have been no reported damages or casualties outside the building itself, but we, unfortunately, have no reports on casualties inside the building; and the situation at the station itself only seems to be escalating."

The two looked over at the screen confused for a moment as just a few seconds later they heard a call go off on Jack's phone, the ring tone clearly being from the chief. Nick started to loudly groan as he laid his head back on the couch.

"Seriously? Can't a fox just get a little bit of alone time for once!"

Jack let out a sigh before smiling rather plainly at Nick.

"Well, guess we don't have a choice; after all, we are ZPD agents. For now, let's just answer the call; we've got work to do… partner."


	6. Same Day, Different Mission

Nick let out a grumpy moan as Jack shifted away from him to reach for his phone. But once he get off the couch, Nick pulled the rabbit back.

Jack quickly looked back at nick. "Ah hey, Nick, what are you-"

"Can't we just... answer it later?"

Jack furrowed his brow in confusion as Nick continued.

"I know we _have_ to answer it, but what I mean is... can't we wait just a little bit longer? You know... call back with an excuse, and just lay together a few more minutes?

"Nick, this isn't something we can ignore, even for a second. You saw what was on T.V, this is serious. And believe me I know how you feel, but we need to put work first here. After the mission's done with, we'll have plenty of time to be together, alright?

Nick let out a resigned sigh. "Alright, Hopps, you win; let's just take the call and get this over with, shall we?"

As Nick let him go, Jack quickly scurried and walked over to his phone which stopped ringing, looking back at Nick with a smug grin.

"Just cause I'm a bunny doesn't make me a Hopps, you know; running out of names already?"

Nick stretched his arms to the back of his head while Jack started calling back Bogo.

"Well, you have a similar sense of duty, anyways. But I have actually been thinking that I need a more unique Nick-name just for you, like Stripes."

Jack snickered a bit. "Not very original of-"

"Jack?"

Bogo suddenly answered as the rabbit immediately switched his tone over to something more professional.

"Yes chief, you need us?"

There was a small silence on the other end of the phone.

"This isn't like the usual briefing, Jack; come to the ZPD immediately, and Nick can come if he chooses."

Without another detail, Bogo hung up the phone.

Nick looked over at Jack curiously after seeing the bunny's expression. "Everything alright?"

Jack turned over to him with a neutral expression.

"Chief only asked me to come for some reason… I don't know why though. I suppose, it's only optional for you to come along for some reason."

Without hesitation, Nick got up off the couch and started adjusting his suit with a grin.

"Well, in that case, let's go."

Jack, in turn, responded with a warm smile before giving him a quick nod; and without any more exchange of words or glances, the two took off to their car and left the apartments.

* * *

The ride over to the ZPD was, once again, filled with silence. Not out of any failure in communication, awkwardness, or boredom like before though; there was a strange apprehension in the air this time around.

As Jack quietly drove on, Nick couldn't help but every once and awhile give a few glances over at the bunny. There didn't seem to even be much for Nick to look at, but the fox felt strangely compelled to keep staring at him. And after awhile, he soon found that if he glared at him too long, he would start to feel his nerves get uncomfortably spry. Yet even when he tried looking away, he kept going back for more; and it very quickly dawned on him that he wanted to do more than just stare at Jack....

But he quickly put the reigns on his thoughts and turned his head toward the window seat, resting his paw on his chin.

_Jeez, get a hold of yourself, buddy; it's just a car ride like any other. You can't be expected to handle a mission if you can't even handle keeping yourself in control next to him._

Against his better judgment, however, Nick, through the corner of his eyes, looked over at Jack again; and to his surprise, Jack was doing the same at that exact moment. Nick locked eyes with Jack for a split second before he quickly looked away from the rabbit, a sudden tinge of awkwardness now returning to the air.

_Hey, hey, come on now, seriously? You're supposed to be the professional one right now, Jack! If you're also thinking the same thing as me, then-_

The car abruptly stopped as Jack parked near the ZPD, almost causing the fox to fumble out of his seat from the shock.

"Were here!"

Jack exclaimed in a strangely assertive tone before going silent. Nick, quickly regaining his composure and position, pulled at the sides of his suit and put on an equally calm expression. He took a few moments to relax his mind and thoughts before breaking the silence.

"Alright fluff… let's just go and-"

Abruptly cutting short his sentence, Nick felt his tie get quickly pulled down as Jack landed Nick's lips with his own and went in for a sloppy kiss. Nick only looked in wide-eyed bewilderment as the kiss was suddenly pushed upon him.

Nick nervously pushed the rabbit away from him. "J-Jack, we're In the front of the ZPD building! What if someone see's us in here!"

Jack smiled with a light blush.

"Nick, we have a professional vehicle, remember? All the windows our tinted black enough so that nobody can see us."

Nick blinked in slight confusion while the meaning of what Jack said sunk in.

Jack scratched his cheek a little and looked off to the side.

"Sorry. I guess it was... uh, a bit to sudden, huh? I just thought with the kind of awkward car ride we had that maybe a quick-"

Nick leaped right on top of Jack and in an instant, landed his muzzle right up against the rabbit's parted lips. Nick, practically pinning the bunny down, assaulted Jack with his rather sudden, lustful kissing while using one paw to keep the bunny down on the seat and the other to start gently feeling him up.

Nick's tail wagged rapidly back and forth in the air as the fox felt his lips naturally part from Jack's and start to slowly hover over the rabbits neck; licking and gently nibbling on it as he kept himself firmly planted on top of him.

"Ahh, Nick…"

Hearing a moan from his bunny only urged Nick to continue forward as he couldn't help but explore his hand further around Jack's soft yet well trained body.

"...Nick."

Feeling up Jack further, he began-

"Nick!"

Nick swiftly stopped what he was doing and looked down at Jack; the rabbit was looking up sternly at him.

"I think we should maybe go see Bogo before he starts to suspect something, or smell something..."

Nick, regaining some of his senses, looked down at the rabbit's body and noticed his entire paw was lodged inside his undershirt and sitting on Jack's chest. He quickly retreated his hand and pushed himself off of the rabbit. Nick sat back down at his seat, feeling a bit embarrassed from letting his instinct take over.

"Right, right, I uhm… sorry."

Nick looked down at the floor feeling a need to scold himself for not controlling his own actions; these crazy last few days have stripped him of to many sensibilities.

Jack adjusted his suit. "Look It's fine, alright... I know the situation right now is a little, odd. But I have to wonder; do you always act this aggressive with your dates?"

Nick scratched his head. "Well... no actually, I've never done something like that, or even acted this way with anyone else before... only you."

The rabbit looked at Nick with in slight astonishment. Jack averted his gaze from Nick as he felt a strong blush crawl on his face, coughing a little bit into his paw.

"Well, regardless, we should probably get going..."

Nick looked over at Jack with an equal amount of astonishment at his reaction. His expression soon changed to a smug grin as he continued to stare at the rabbit, however.

"Whatever you say, boss; though try not let your tail wiggle so much around chief Bogo, as cute as it is."

Jack only responded in irritation at Nick's words, turning his head away from him as he left his seat. Nick simply continued to smugly smile as they started casually walking side by side, Nick putting on his sunglasses as he entered the building.

* * *

 

Nothing seemed particularly odd about the ZPD building that night. There was the usual few nocturnal officers on duty with the place moderately less busy; though, oddly enough, Clawhauser was still at the front desk. The cheetah seemed both a bit nervous as well as tired, but regardless, gave the two a warm smile as they approached the front desk.

"Oh, hey guys! Chief says he's not in his usual office right now, he's in the ZPD meeting room instead."

The duo looked back at each other inquisitively before looking back at Clawhauser.

Nick spoke up first. "And, uhm, why exactly are you on station so late anyways, big guy? Don't you usually leave around nine?"

Clawhauser let out a lazy yawn before responding.

"Yeah, well, I was told I couldn't leave yet until everyone that needed to show up for the meeting did. Luckily, you two are the last ones needed, so I'm gonna start hitting the hay I think."

Nick wanted to ask him a few more questions as to what was going on, but he had the feeling Clawhasuer wouldn't know the answer anyways.

He nudged over at Jack who seemed to be a little out of it.

"Come on, buddy, let's go; we'll get the answers once were at the meeting."

To the two's surprise, once they entered, they saw all the usual officers they were used to seeing or talking with at lunch. Fangmeyer, Mchorn, Delgato and a few others were all sitting down in their seat rather quietly. Chief Bogo eyed the two as Nick walked along and sat down in his seat almost out of habit, Jack being the only one feeling a little confused and eventually taking the hint to sit next to Nick on the same seat.

"Well, now that everyone's here, let's get down to brass tax. I'm sure you're all wondering why I called a few of you up late at night, and I'm almost certain all of you either heard the radio signal or saw what happened on the nightly news today. And although we already have officers immediately dispatched to the area long before any of you were called here, this is a special circumstance; as you can see with Nick and Jack being here."

Gazes from the other officers looked over at the duo for a brief moment as Nick and Jack only reacted in more confusion.

Chief Bogo also looked down at Nick and Jack for a moment. "Have you two heard the radio signal?"

Both of them shook their heads before Jack spoke up.

"We only even saw the news on the T.V out of coincidence."

Bogo let out a small huff through his nostrils.

"Alright then, I'll replay the signal quick; it was broadcasted through multiple radio stations simultaneously as well as even through a few T.V channels without any video."

The two listened carefully as chief Bogo pressed the replay button.

"Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies; as I'm sure some of you know, thanks to the mayor's absolutely generous initiative to bring the not so infamous Jack back to Zootopia, all the dealings and underground spots we were all oh so used to have almost disappeared over night. Dealers to scared to come out, middle men feigning ignorance, no organization... it's almost as if a giant gaping hole has appeared over night where all these things should be."

The voice in the radio was deep and almost dripping with malicious sarcasm. Nick, himself, knew quite a few names of dealers both due to his job now and his previous hustling 'job', but he always made it a point to avoid the more hard core deals and dealers; he only would know them by name.

"So with the sudden disappearance of my brother, along with over half of all the crime lords of the underground, It's looking like my time to shine. I will personally be the one to bring back all the things of which you desire; and while I'm rising to the top, and I intend to drag Jack down to the bottom." He said with a slight bit of anger at the end of his sentence.

Nick's ears perked at the sound of Jack's name. Mentioning it before was already odd enough, but he was clearly putting an attack on him with that last statement. Nick briefly looked over at Jack to see what he was thinking, and his expression was practically nonexistent. His eye's seemed coldly professional and neutral, not at all seeming bothered by whatever this animal was talking about.

But Nick knew better then to believe that kind of body language from him. Jack may be hard to read when he's acting friendlier or talking, but anyone that worked with him knew he didn't respond like this to a mission briefing. He was a too stiff, and normally his expression would show a bit more concern or thought; he was trying very hard to hide whatever he was feeling right now.

"So come and get me, jack rabbit! You know I'm right at the station, now, you can finally-"

"Hey!"

A sudden voice shouted in the background of the recording as the sound of gun fire was heard.

"S-Stop, what are you-"

An explosion was heard only for a brief moment before static cut off the signal, Bogo turning off the recording.

"Our sources gathered a sudden explosion was set off in the station; and as you can tell, it's doubtful it was according to their plan. We don't know who set it off, how, or why; but what we do know is that almost half the building is down and the man who put up this signal is still in the building, now surrounded by other ZPD officers."

"Speedy…"

Jack mumbled lowly under his breath. But with the silence of the meeting, everyone was able to hear him.

Chief Bogo glanced over at Jack and responded.

"Yes well, that would be his street name; not only due to his agility, but what he dealt in. He used to work under his brother back in the day, and Jack here, at the time, took down his brother and later-"

"Chief, can we save the history lesson for later."

Jack replied with a cold professionalism. 

Bogo simply nodded and immediately dropped it. "Getting more to the point, given the very clear threat to Jack and the fact he himself is more familiar with the lot of you then any other officers, we were hoping for you all to provide agent Savage with back up for an infiltration. Considering he has both the most skill of anyone in here along with a past connection with the culprit, I believe Savage is by far the best candidate for the mission. However, if I'm being honest, this plan is much more circumstantial then professional, I came up with this idea in my trust of agent savage's ability and his competency up to this point. For everyone else, however, none of you are under technical obligation to-"

Without hesitation, Fangmeyer stood up from his seat with a determined smile on his face.

"Chief, you know you don't have to tell us all that technical jargon, I already made up my mind long ago."

The rest of the ZPD officers started to stand up as Jack himself also did so, accepting the mission with a determined look on his face. Nick was the last to follow suite, but showed no signs of wavering in his decision regardless. Bogo seemed to almost expect this and looked down at the fox as he stood up.

"Officer Wilde, or… agent Wilde I should say; although you are directly under Jack's command, while also being his partner, the plan does not require your assistance. Out of everyone here, you have the least obligation to join."

Nick put on a rather smug grin and had already thought of a witty response to the chief. But before he could so much as open his maw to speak up, Jack, to his surprise, started talking.

"Nick, maybe you should go; I can do this myself."

Nick looked down at Jack in bewilderment. And as the fox opened up his mouth, Jack, once again, interrupted him before he got the chance.

"It's fine!"

The rabbit half shouted out before calming his voice again, his tone still remaining somewhat neutral.

"I can handle this mission alone, it's better this way..."

Jack didn't even so much as turn his gaze over at Nick, he simply stared forward with a passive expression.

Nick looked over at Jack, thoroughly unimpressed with his deadpan response.

_So that's how you want to play it, huh?_

Still not giving in, Nick quickly turned his head over to Bogo and raised his hand.

"Chief Bogo, from this point forward I resign my position as Jack's partner and as an agent under him; from hence forth, I wish to only be a ZPD officer. And as a result, my only request is to back agent Savage along with the other officers here to the best of my abilities."

Chief Bogo crossed his arms, raising a slight eyebrow to Nick as Jack broke off his professionalism and looked at Nick in shock.

"Nick! What are you saying!?"

Nick only grinned cockily at the rabbit and bent over looking at him.

"You aren't getting rid of me that easily, fluff, you can try to push me away from being your teamate, but I'll always still be your _partner_."

As he expected, that got a pretty big reaction out of that stubborn bunny.

Jack cleverly hid his emotions despite his initial response and took a second to maul over what Nick said. Eventually giving in, Jack let out a small sigh and relaxed his face.

"…Don't actually quit being an agent, Nick, I... you can... join me on the mission, alright?"

Nick quickly stood right back up with a more relaxed and happy smile on his face.

"Fantastic! Well then, chief, I believe we have all wasted enough time on this debriefing as is, we should probably head out before the situation escalates."

Bogo's face remained somewhat neutral.

"Very well then… men, dismissed!"


	7. A Turn for the Worst

Silence was becoming a better acquaintance to Nick then he'd prefer. Even in a van full of police officers and alongside his partner, Nick couldn't think of a single thing to say; he wasn't even sure if he should. He'd hoped there would be playful banter to ease the situation even if only superficially, but apparently the lateness of the day and strangeness of the situation had put a cork in everyone's pipe.

"…Nick."

Jack spoke, squashing the silence as the fox looked over at him.

"Sorry for trying to push you away earlier. I know you were trying to make a point with that whole pretending to quit the unit thing, and I get it, I do. But.. I just…"

Jack let a long pause linger in the air and avoided eye contact with Nick. His digits tapped lightly on his thighs as his ears laid down on his back. Nick, seeing his apprehension, let out an audible sigh and spoke for him.

"And I get it, too. This is personal and you felt like it was something you had to do yourself, right? But you know, this isn't just some awkward family get together you have to deal with yourself, it-"

"I know, I know. It involves an actual mission that could endanger my life, and so you had to stick your fox nose in my business, right?" Jack looked up at Nick with a light smile.

Nick gave him a soft grin in return. "That's right, Stripes, you can't hide a bunny from a fox's nose after all."

Jack's smirk remained plastered on his muzzle as he closed his eyes and lay his head back on his seat.

"Thanks…"

Silence once again returned to the van. The officers tried not to pay too much attention to the pair's personal conversation, but Nick could tell they were listening by the relief that appeared on their faces. The tension in the air had dissipated and he felt like he could relax for the first time before the mission.

After a few minutes, Nick felt one of Jack's paws discreetly placed onto his own. Jack slowly stroked Nick's hand without talking, neither of the pair looking at one another as they shared a secluded moment together. Nick, very subtly, returned the gesture by wrapping one of his fingers around the rabbit's digits, still staring at the wall. 

Nick closed his eyes as he thought to himself.

_Don't worry Jack… I'll be here to protect you, always._

Eventually, the van arrived at the scene, stopping up near a barricade a few other officers had already set up. The fire didn't seem too intense or visible to Nick, with the exception of the smoke constantly rising from the building. As everyone got out, Nick quickly scanned the area to try and get a better idea of exactly what happened.

_So let's see here. Only one ambulance, so I suppose there should at least be some truth to the casualties count, though I find it hard to believe nobody got hurt based off that signal interruption. Seems more likely that the ones injured are Speedy's henchmen holed up in the building considering there hasn't been any advancement up to this point. If anything, the only thing everyone's doing here is securing a hold on their position and making sure nobody leaves the building, almost like a stand off... do they have a hostage?_

A black panther in uniform quickly approached Nick and Jack. He held a radio in one paw that he was speaking into on the way over.

"Looks like you two finally arrived. We-"

"How many hostages?"

Jack asked, interrupting the officer. "The west entrance to the building near the crumbled cement doesn't have much coverage. Are the majority of criminals leaning on the east end where most the building is intact?"

The panther paused for a moment before regaining his composure. "Er, yes. That's the gist of the situation."

Nick put on a small grin as he approached the panther. "Hey listen, don't worry your furry little head about it uhh... Fangs?"

The panther's ears twitched at Nick's nickname. "It's Panthora... detective Panthora."

"Right, right Pandora, well, as much as we appreciate the briefing, I think my partner here has got a good read on what's going on. Buuutt let us know if anything changes."

Jack's face remained stoic as he started walking away from the panther.

"Let's go." He muttered dryly. Seeing Jack's impatience, Nick quickly followed behind him, but not before gave a little goodbye salute to the somewhat confused detective.

"Jeez, a little harsh on the cold calculated gaze there, huh Stripes? I know it's a mission, but maybe ease up a little. All this tension isn't going to help you."

Jack abruptly stopped.

"There's no easing up with him, Nick... If were not careful in a situation like this, he could escape. I have to catch him. No, I need to."

Nick internally winced at the aggression in his voice. With the way Jack was acting and the strangers of this sudden situation, the fox couldn't shake of the foreboding feeling he was getting. But for the time being, he decided it was best to just shut his trap and follow Jack's orders.

And as expected of the two after having worked together so long, the simple plan they came up with went off without a hitch. A few partially injured guardsmen were spotted near a hallway connecting the printing room to one of the offices; they were to be discreetly dispatched before taking out four other mammals that were all separated and guarding various entrances that lead to the room Speedy himself was held up in. Afterward, the two were to meet up and take care of any other guards not reported in the vicinity.

Nick and Jack worked with almost flawless coordination as they subdued the two already partially handicapped guardsmen in the hallway, each one taking the other individually with a few swift hits and no fired shots. The two then momentarily separated as Jack took two mammals covering entrances to the North and Nick was In charge of taking the two mammals closer to the south. Everything from their momentary separation to even taking down un-counted mammals went as smoothly.

However, Nick couldn't help but notice a small edge in the way his partner handled things. He was more aggressive than usual with his leg strikes and takedowns. It was subtle, but Nick could still see it as plain as day.

Several more guards fell before Jack and Nick as they moved toward their goal. It wasn't long before the two made it all the way up to the office Speedy was holding up in, just a few feet away from the entrance. Other than a window on the other side where they got the confirmation on his location, the only way in was through the door in front of them.

Jack quickly radioed the ZPD officers that had been giving them back up.

"Any escapees? Any visual on Speedy himself?"

After a few seconds of radio silence, a voice crackled through the speaker.

"Negative on the escapees. We've been scouring the place behind you, and so far there has been no resistance. We've gotten no word that he's moved. According to the reports, before the window was closed, Speedy was holding a single hostage by himself. Our spotters can still see his shadow and the hostage through the blinds."

"Understood, over and out."

Jack turned off radio off before looking over at Nick.

"Stay just a few feet behind me when we break open the door; I'll take the lead."

Normally, Nick would have a witty little quip at this kind of order, but he held his tongue, thinking better of it. He only gave Jack a quick nod and followed his lead as they kicked open the door together, holding their pistols at the ready.

"ZPD! Paws where I can see them!" Jack shouted with an authoritative tone as the door flew open from the force of their combined kick. The inside was littered with office equipment and furniture, and a wide desk sat between the officers and the three mammals in the room. It wasn't Speedy and a hostage as reported, however. A tiger armed with a machine pistol was in the corner of the room, pointing it at the door while an antelope near the blinds begun to draw a gun from behind his back. Speedy stood in front of them, who only smirked with malicious intent at Nick and Jack's intrusion. There had been no hostage; the antelope described by the spotters had been working with them from the beginning.

The half second before everyone in the room took action felt like an eternity to the pair. Speedy acted first, sprinting toward the fox and rabbit. The two could only react in an instant by training their weapons on Speedy's co-horts who were aiming their own guns at them.

Gunfire reverberated through the room, and the tiger and antelope fell backwards with blood seeping through their clothes; And although they succeeded in disabling them, they had no hope of countering the cheetah now charging at Nick.

The cheetah pounced and expertly grappled at the fox and regained his posture while doing so. Within almost an instant, Speedy had a vice grip around Nick with a gun pointed directly at the fox's head. Any struggling Nick could do was in vain, the fox could only scowl at him as he quickly figured out he was overpowered.

"Drop it, fox, or you won't want to see what happens next." Speedy growled. Nick let go of his gun, which clattered to the ground with a heavy thud. Jack sucked in his breath and shifted his aim at Speedy's head, which was mostly concealed behind Nick.

The violence only took a matter of seconds to transpire, and the end result was a standoff with Speedy holding Nick hostage as Jack nervously tried to find a shot. The cheetah wore a shit eating grin and bared his fangs.

"Well, hello to you too, Jack.… Long time no see."

The nervousness Jack was displaying took a back seat as his face contorted in rage at the cheetah.

"Speedy, release him right now! We've got you surrounded, and there's no way out!"

A grating cackle filled the room as Speedy laughed.

"Oh, and why would I do that? Afraid of a repeat of last time, are we? Though, I wonder how much you really care about this fox…"

Nick didn't understand the exchange that was happening between the two, but he wasn't one to crumple up in a situation like this. Jack had even specifically trained him in how to handle hostage negotiation and even what to do when taken hostage.

"You aren't going to kill me." Nick quickly retorted. "The entire place is surrounded and you've used this clever ruse as the only means to escape because you already screwed up earlier. I've conned people long enough to know when a plan goes awry." Speedy cocked an eyebrow at the fox he had in a headlock, but only laughed harder when Nick finished speaking.

"He even has that same vibrato, huh? My, my, you really do have a knack for picking a partner, don'y you? Though, I wonder if this one will last past today."

To Nick's surprise, he could see the effects of Speedy's words all over Jack's face. His aim became a shaky, and his normally very well kept demeanor was crumbling. Jack's eyes were wide and tense as he seemed almost desperate for an escape from the situation.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Jack shouted out in aggravation at Speedy's taunts, Speedy only smiled mischievously at Jack.

"Or what, huh? You gonna shoot me?" The cheetah pressed his gun firmer up against the fox's head as he held Nick closer to him.

"I wonder which one of us can pull the trigger faster, hmm? Really, if I knew it wouldn't cost me my life, I'd almost pull it right now just to see your face afterward."

A few small tears started to form at the corners of Jack's eyes as he very desperately tried to keep his cool. He stayed silent, and Nick figured he wasn't responding to the cheetah anymore.

"Aww, what's the matter, Jack, some bad memories coming back? You gonna cry again?" Speedy said in a mocking tone before letting out another laugh.

"You should just see the look on your face right now. Oh, Jack, Jack... We both know how this is going to really end. You have no chance in coming out on top right now. Your best chance to make sure he lives is to let me go, and maybe If I'm feeling nice enough." A wide smile crept on the cheetah's face. "I'll keep my promise this time."

Jack hesitated on what to do, his composure only seeming to worsen with every word Speedy said to him. The bunny looked like he was going to have a breakdown if this kept up.

Nick found himself in a daze of confusion at the events unfolding before him right now. In his head, he had run multiple simulations on ways to handle this type of event cleanly and smoothly. He always tried to think a step ahead of any opposition or threat, especially with a job like this. But not once did he see a situation where Jack would lose his cool like this. There was no subtlety on the rabbit's face; Jack looked desperate and volatile. It seemed given the situation, the fox could only rely on himself at the moment.

Nick looked back in the corner of his eye behind the cheetah, whose excitement over the situation was obvious based off how his tail wandered back and forth. If there was one thing a fox was required to know about, it was how their tail worked; And no matter how well trained you are, it's hard to involuntarily stop your tail from moving when you roused. Nick carefully followed his tail's lazy, predictable movement for a few moments, and in one fell swoop, stomped as hard as he could right on the tip of it.

Nick had experienced this exact feeling several times before, and as expected, the cheetah let out a loud yelp and released Nick from his grip. His gun fell from his paw as pain seared through his tail. Speedy had been so busy taunting Jack, he didn't even consider that his hostage might try and make a move.

Despite how Jack was just acting, once he saw a change in the situation, his body reacted on trained instinct. Taking advantage of the opportunity with excellent precision, Jack further disarmed Speedy with a shot at his palm while Nick delivered an elbow to his kidneys, causing Speedy to stumble away from the fox while simultaneously winding him.

Nick scrambled away from him as Jack, having a better position, leapt at Speedy, landing a solid kick to the jaw. The disoriented cheetah fell on all fours, and was swiftly pinned to the ground. Jack grabbed his arms and painfully tugged them behind him. Speedy's head landed hard on the floor while Jack cuffed his paws behind his back. Only a few seconds afterward, the backup ZPD officers burst into the office in response to the gunshot. Once inside, they saw Speedy snarling, but subdued, and eased their triggers; in the end, the situation had been handled without any serious casualties.

Speedy groaned as he tried to adjust his arms tied behind him. "You damned fucking rabbit, if you hadn't-"

Without a moment of hesitation, Jack leaned down and punched Speedy square in the snout. The meaty sound of Jack's fist breaking Speedy's nose filled the air. Even as he groaned in pain, the rage in Jack's eyes didn't cease as he continued glaring down at him. He raised his fist again, but Delgato took hold of the rabbit's wrist.

"That's enough, Jack, we already caught him,.. He won't be hurting anyone else anymore."

Jack took a moment to react to him, but eventually released the tension on his grip and relaxed his arm. Delgato released his grip on Jack in turn despite the fact he was still clearly furious. Nick looked at his partner with concern as he slowly extended his own paw towards him.

"Jack..."

The rabbit turned his head toward Nick, who recoiled at the unbridled aggression painted across Jack's face. Jack's mood softened quickly as he caught himself, however. He looked away from Nick and frowned.

Jack dusted himself off and stepped away from Speedy.

"Let's go…"

He walked slowly toward the exit while the other officers tended to the criminals and reported in. a few of them grabbed Speedy to take him away as Nick watched his partner walk off, feeling unsure of what to do.

Fangmeyer walked up to Nick and laid a paw on his shoulder. "You should go with your partner, Nick. Don't worry about any paperwork for right now."

Nick didn't react as Fangmeyer retracted his paw and walked away towards the other officers. The fox paused and took a deep breath, halting the maelstrom of thoughts swirling in his mind about everything that had just transpired before eventually padding off after Jack.

"Fangmeyer said not to worry about paperwork right now. I think he's got it covered," Nick said as he quickly ran up to Jack.

Jack only nodded his head in response. Nick didn't want to push his partner after the standoff, so he gestured toward one of the squad cars as the pair hitched a ride back to the precinct. Once there, Jack mentioned how he didn't feel like changing at the station, and just wanted to head to bed.

* * *

Jack lowered a window and let the cool night air filter into the car, allowing his ears to be lazily flapped around by the breeze. With the exception of the wind, the ride home was filled with a deafening silence, and Nick couldn't tell if it was uncomfortable or not. But this time around, Nick wasn't up for letting this oppressive atmosphere take control of the situation. Instead of trying to salvage the mood with awkward banter, or going in straight for the kill, Nick instead, maintained a cool stoicism, and formulated an idea.

After ten minutes without any conversation, the first portion of Nick's plan came to fruition. Jack hadn't been paying too much attention, and noticed that Nick had completely passed his apartment. He looked around out the window and, a little confused, looked back at Nick.

"Uhm, Nick? I think you passed by my place." Nick's expression stayed the same as he continued driving.

"Yeah, I know. I figured it might be more fun to stay at my place tonight, if that isn't a problem."

He came to rest at a red light and turned his head over to look at Jack, who struggled to make eye contact, opting instead to gaze out the window.

"Oh, uh, no, I... suppose not. It's just a bit unexpected is all."

Nick only smirked as he continued to drive with an otherwise neutral expression.

"Glad to hear it."

It was only a few more minutes before Nick parked in front of his apartment complex. He killed the lights and stepped out of the car; Jack rolled up his window and did the same.

Nick walked rather smoothly in comparison to the stiff bunny next to him as they started heading up to his place. Nick still refused to budge to the somber mood Jack surrounded himself with as he unlocked his apartment door with an easy-going smile, opening it up for Jack.

"After you."

Jack walked through the doors with his head on a swivel, taking in the apartment as Nick closed it. Nick stretched himself wide, walked past Jack, and tossed himself onto his couch as if it were a normal day off.

"Well, that's enough action for one week, I'd say. Not that I didn't think we'd come out on top as usual; if we can escape a guard infested underground factory, we can take care of a single cheetah I'd say."

Jack only stared at him, but the fox didn't retreat from his gaze.

"What, I got something in my fur?"

"…Nick, why are you acting like this."

Nick pretended not to understand him, cocking an eyebrow "What do you mean? Don't I always act like me?"

Jack frowned a little at his response.

"Aren't you, I don't know, upset? Or curious, or, concerned? I… I can't tell if you're being serious or if you're putting up some kind of facade right now. You don't have any questions for me or about what just happened? Any at all?"

Bulls-eye.

With the hook in place, Nick stiffened his stance and straightened himself up on the couch; now was the time to take off his coy attitude.

"Of course I do, Jack. I absolutely want to know what happened and what's been on your mind. Even if I wasn't a sly fox, I'd still be able to tell something is up, and not just a little something. Something serious, but..."

Nick relaxed himself again as he put his hands behind his head against the couch.

"But I'm not going to rush you. We're going to have plenty of time with each other in the future to talk about this and learn more about one another. I think I can push back my own curiosity and concern for the sake of giving you some breathing room. I mean, I've got some things in my past I'm not eager to dredge up on a moment's notice. Just... don't keep me waiting too long, bunny."

Jack took a second to think about his response before letting out a disarming sigh as his body finally relaxed. He walked up in front of Nick.

"Look I'll just — I'll just tell you right now, ok? We don't need to wait because, well, it really isn't as serious as it seems, and I don't want you to be concerned for me." Jack casually sat down next to Nick and adjusted his tone to be a little more neutral.

"As you were told in the debriefing, Speedy was the brother of the drug dealer you 'took down' with Judy and the one I personally also 'took down', so to speak. At the time it happened, I was much younger and still in Zootopia. Speedy took on a rather intense grudge against me for putting his brother out of commission, despite the fact he wasn't arrested. Apparently, it was because of me that he quit the buissness."

Jack subconsciously reached his paw out near the desk as if extending for a drink, before suddenly realizing nothing was there. Nick couldn't help but smirk at his reaction.

"You want me to fix us up a little something?"

Jack shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. I don't want to make this a long story session, honestly. I'll get to the gist of it."

Jack relaxed a little bit more and went back to his story. "So, to sum it up, he was trying to take his brother's previous hold on the underground market and, much like today, slipped up. Apparently, despite how clever he is, all he seems to do is screw up in the end. I was sent after him due to my history of dealing with his brother despite his open grudge against me. After a few... altercations, we ended up in a very similar standoff as today, with a random civilian as his hostage... a young woman."

Jack paused a brief moment as his expression became more solemn. "I don't really want to get into detail, but... I couldn't save her. He had been pushed into a corner and I had no choice but to let him go. I thought I could stop his escape with back up, but he used her as a shield and shot at us." Jack took a deep breath before continuing. "The worst part is, she didn't even die from the gunfire. The team never shot back; we didn't want to hit her. Once he escaped, he simply… discarded her, and left her body behind."

Jack started to rub his paws lightly against each other, trying to keep himself composed. Nick slid over next to him and placed a paw on Jack's shoulder.

"And I'm guessing you?"

Jack nodded. "I didn't just get it from a report, I saw her dead with my own eyes, and I knew it was completely and utterly my fault. Up to that point, I had killed a few mammals on missions before, but seeing her like that, unarmed, innocent, not involved at all — it was completely different than another dead thug."

Jack closed his eyes and stayed silent for several moments. He let out a deep sigh before opening up his eyes to a more neutral expression.

"Well, that the gist of it anyways. I got some really bad flashbacks back then and I.. I just crumbled. I suppose, in the end, there are some thoughts I can't completely shake, no matter how much training I go through."

Nick carefully studied Jack as he finished his story. Nothing about it seemed inconspicuous, and he had no reason to distrust his partner after all they've been through, but he couldn't stave off a nagging feeling in the back of his head. There were a few things that seemed off about his story and what happened, but he couldn't pin point what exactly they were. If it was anything, he could only call it a… fox's intuition. And if there was one thing Nick had learned to trust as he got older, it was his intuition.

Nick looked down at Jack a little sternly and crossed his arms. "Is that really it? You make it seem a lot less serious than the way you were acting beforehand."

Despite his accusatory wording, Nick tried his best to keep his tone neutral and unassuming. Jack didn't topple from his words, however; Jack instead reached out and rested a paw on Nick's arms.

"I'm fine now, Nick, honestly,"

A small smile played at the corners of his lips.

"I'm fine now, because you're here with me."

Nick's defenses toppled at those simple words; a surprise attack from the enemy broke down his cynical walls. It didn't completely stamp out his concerns, but he couldn't keep up being stern anymore with the look Jack was giving him. Nick's expression softened as Jack took the opportunity and gave the fox a hug.

"Please, Nick, I know how I acted is… worrying, but I'm not as weak of a rabbit as you're thinking. I promise, I'm fine."

Nick gently hugged back his partner in response. "I know you're not weak, Jack. I'm just concerned. And no matter how strong you are, you know I'll never stop being able to worry about you."

Jack didn't respond right away and kept at the hug a little tighter before looking up at Nick.

"How's about we head to bed; I'm seriously tired."

The rabbit's words practically seeped into his nervous system as Nick felt the weight of his lack of sleep hit him like a brick.

"Sounds like a plan to me, bunny. Let's hit the hay before we pass out on the couch. I've slept on this thing before, and I don't recommend it."

The two slid off the couch, trudged into Nick's bedroom, and flopped onto the bed without a moment's hesitation. Nick quickly discarded his clothes down to his boxers as Jack mirrored him. The pair laid close together, with Jack's back pressed into Nick's chest fur, facing away from him. Nick smiled as sleep claimed Jack first, who had fallen still in his arms. The two didn't even feel the need to say goodnight to one another as their own fatigue simply did the work for them.

But as the night drifted on, and Nick was just about to fall sleep, a sound woke him from his stupor. He opened one of his eyes and looked around searching for the source of the sound. Jack was deep in slumber, but his body was still moving. It was awkwardly fidgeting as his ears twitched and his paws occasionally tried reaching for something that wasn't there. Nick could hear a few sobs through his muffled voice; he moved into a better position to see Jacks' face, as Nick looked down at his partner in concern.

"Jack…"

He didn't seem to respond and kept trying to clutch at something, with a few seconds later an actual reply coming from him very softly.

"Nick… Don't... leave, please."

Nick very carefully grabbed a hold of Jack and turned him around so they were facing toward one another. Jack immediately took advantage and hugged up into Nick's chest as a few more tears streamed down his face. Nick pulled him closer and rubbed his back to comfort the bunny.

_This isn't the kind of sleep a bunny that feels fine has... What really happened so long ago to make you act like this Jack? And why won't you tell me?_


	8. Deceit and Truth

Nick peeked from the corner of his eye at Jack, looking at his phone. The rabbit was busy eating a light sandwich he had ordered from the cafe, pretty much a usual for him at this point. Conversation between the two had momentarily died as they simply enjoyed the ambiance of the cafe and enjoyed their own respective meals.

It was pretty common for the two to have off together after a mission, especially one that ended on such a dramatic note like the one yesterday. And it was customary, at least for the first few days, to hang out together; they didn't exactly put much thought into it though, it was more so just how things unfolded.

But even though everything appeared to be rather tranquil for the two, Nick's calm demeanor did not match his thoughts. Every time he would look at his seemingly carefree partner, he could see memories of that same face having a borderline breakdown at the mission a couple days ago as well as in bed.

Even if Nick was doing a good job of hiding what he was thinking from Jack, there was no hiding the irritation he felt inside himself. Only together for a few days and already Jack wasn't keeping the promise they made to one another; they had hit a road block in their relationship that Nick hadn't anticipated, or at least so quickly. Taking into consideration everything that had happened recently, and now having time to reflect on it, Nick could tell that the bunny was hiding something from him.

And Jack didn't at all seem keen on telling him what that something was. Despite Nick considering himself to be an expert at divulging information or reactions from mammals, Jack was in his own league. No matter what Nick did he would just as cleverly avoid any mention of the subject and pretend like he was completely over what had happened. If it wasn't for the fact of last night, Nick probably wouldn't be thinking what Jack told him might have been a lie. There was no doubting the rabbit's skill, and to be honest, Nick didn't think he could overcome him without it being obvious.

Right now, he was contemplating on exactly what his next action should be. Should he be straight forward, just tell him what he's been thinking? That was the most obvious answer to the dilemma, but it didn't seem like it was necessarily the best one. Jack and him are together now, and Nick wouldn't be with Jack if he knew he was the type to casually lie or hide his feelings from him… There was a reasoning to it, and if after everything they went through he still couldn't bring himself to say it, it had to be serious.

Jack wasn't weak, and for something to make him act like that… there's just no way he could believe the story he told him last night, there had to be something more to it.

"You reading politics or something, Nick? You're acting a little tense there."

Nick quickly caught himself and calmed his demeanor.

_You even detected that much from me, huh? you really are a formidable bunny, you know that._

"Well, not quiet. I was actually just texting a friend of-"

Suddenly, Nick's phone started to vibrate as if turning his lie into reality.

Acting on his curiosity, Nick quickly opened up his phone and looked at the message, only to see it was from Finnick. Funny enough, he had just been thinking about Finnick in the back of his mind. He'd like to introduce him to Jack at some point actually, maybe just as friends at first. But his mused expression quickly contorted into one of horror as he saw what the message really was.

It wasn't just a text message like he thought, Finnick had sent a photo before his message. And although the picture was a little low in quality from being zoomed in, it was still as clear as day what it was; a picture of him and Jack rather aggressively kissing behind his couch, Nick had left his window open that night!

Nick took a look at the message. "Hahaha, looks like the vixen chaser has become a fluff chaser, and a gay one to boot! You know you're supposed to eat your prey and not fuck them, right?"

_You've got to be kidding me..._

Nick thought to himself as he shoved his face down on the table feeling the need to hide in shame. Jack perked his ears up at curiously at Nick.

"Uuhh... did something happen?"

Nick, realizing he was being too obvious, opened one of his eyes at Jack before scrambling back up on his seat.

"Ahh yes, yes, everything's fine… I mean, no, no it isn't but… aaaahh..."

Nick's phone suddenly went off again. He immediately opened back up his app to see; and as he expected, it was another message from Finnick.

"Meant to ask you a few days ago, but you should head over to the Squealer Bar today, maybe even buy me a drink unless you want everyone on the streets seeing you with your new prey toy."

Nick knew Finnick would never actually do something like that, but that damn fox was really pushing it right now.

In that same moment, however, Nick actually remembered the bar he was talking about was only an 8 minute walk from here. The moment you passed 56th street things tended to get a bit more raunchy, but it was still considered safe in the vast scheme of things; a pretty decent place for a middle man.

Nick, after seeing the text, quickly stood up from his seat to the rabbit's further bewilderment. "…I need to go see a friend for a little awhile, I promise to be back soon though."

Jack let out a curious hum as he leaned on the table with a small smile on his face. "Will you tell me the details once your back?"

Nick, having basically gotten a subtle "okay" from Jack grabbed a few of his things and turned around from the table.

"Maybe… don't know if the details will change anything, though."

Nick swiftly walked off, leaving Jack at the table confused from his own personal retort.

* * *

Nick paused for a moment, looking at the entrance to the bar in hesitation. He had hoped to maybe tell Finnick in his own terms, if at all; but he had to face the music now, even if only due to the fact he may need his help.

As Nick walked through the familiar setting he spotted the small fox up near the corner of the bar, each bar he went to he always picked the same spot. Before Nick could even get to a seat, the fennec was already staring at him with a shit eating grin, motioning him to sit next to him.

Nick hesitated again before forcing his feet forward, and sat down next to the fox. Before even an exchange could be said between the two, a moose behind the bar walked up to Nick with a smile on.

"Well, Well, look what the fox dragged in; and here I thought I'd never see you again."

Finnick let out a deep snicker still looking at Nick. "He'll take a liter of your tourist trappe." Finnick answered for Nick as the bartender, not even second guessing it, left to get him some.

Nick intensely peered his eyes over at Finnick. He wasn't saying anything, but his expression was far from amused. Finnick, himself, only continued to smugly smile at him.

"What's that look for, huh? Not gonna tell your former partner about your new mate? You're new fluffy, male mate?" Finnick said, holding back his laughter.

The bartender put down Nick's drink for him on the table, ignoring the conversation and moving onto a new costumer.

"Well, I was maybe thinking about mentioning it, but I decided against it sense I knew how you'd react…" Nick ended coldly before taking a swig of beer.

"Aww, come on Nick, don't be like that. The picture was a complete coincidence, I swear. I wasn't even going to visit you, I was just passing by and remembered that you lived there, and when I looked up at your room and saw the window open with the lights on, well… there was no chance in hell I was gonna miss putting that one over your head!"

Nick thought about quipping at him with something clever, but he was far from the mood of doing that, their relationship had just barley started and too many things were still going through his head. He barely had a single day of excitement and thrill of being with a first time lover before something came up and put a damper on it; hell, even in that short time span he didn't get nearly as much closure or intimacy as he had hoped.

Finnick, seeming to notice Nick's continued frustration, gave him a sudden few pats on the back. "Hey man, come on, you know I'm just fucking with you, right? I ain't gonna actually share the pictures if you're really thinking that."

Nick looked over at Finnick for a brief moment before forcing a smile and grabbing his drink. "I know you wouldn't do that, don't worry."

Finnick's expression changed into a somewhat neutral one as he watched Nick take another sip of his beer. "...You know I don't actually care about the fact you're with a bunny or a male, right? I mean, you know me; I'm with all kinds of odd ball types, so I certainly ain't one to judge. It's like I always say, if it's cute well, fuck it."

Finnick let out a small chuckle at his own joke and went in for a huge swig of beer.

Nick's face, however, remained solemn.

"…His name is Jack; he's the partner I've been talking to you about."

Finnick had to spit out some of his beer just to stop himself from choking on it as he gave Nick a wide eyed expression.

"Yo, seriously!?"

Nick gave him a simple nod back as he let the information soak into the fennec's brain; Finnick himself, seeming to get a better picture and put on a more serious expression.

"Damn, so... you serious about this, then? I mean, I know you said you never cared about the whole species thing, but I never seen you actually date anyone but a vixen, let alone a dude." Finnick rubbed the back of his head. "…And to actually be going out with that partner you gushed about and all that… this ain't no fling, is it?"

Nick shook his head as a plain grin appeared on his face. "I've really fallen head over heels for that little bunny. Don't even know when or how it happened, but I know it's what I want."

Finnick didn't respond right away; he let a very small silence permeate between the two as he hung his head low for a few seconds, still thinking things through. A few moments later, he looked back at Nick who was taking another sip of his beer.

"So like… is everything going ok with you two?"

He could always count on that small little fox to get the bigger picture.

"Well, not exactly, but it's a pretty long story, to be honest; and the answers are In the details. I don't know if you'd really-"

"Oh shut up and spit out, already! Don't even try pretending like you don't have something to say to me; besides, I got time to drink a few more beers today, so let's hear it."

Nick couldn't help but let a small smile creep up on his face from Finnick's rough yet oddly warm words.

"I guess I'll start with a few nights ago..."

* * *

Nick saw his own reflection on the surface of his glass as he finished the last drop along with the last piece of his story; he always did have a bad habit of drinking too much when he was talking or something was on his mind.

Finnick was already on his second beer, but as always. the little fox barley even got buzzed from it; from all their time they've hung out together, Nick has never once seen him even get drunk really.

"That's a pretty dense story... you sure you ain't mixing it up with a lynx soap opera or something?"

Nick shook his head. "Oh, how I wish that were the case, bud; but nope, it's the life I'm living right now, and my solution is just as messy and unclear as the situation."

"Well, it's at least a start." Finnick replied before going in for another drink.

Nick turned his head rather curiously at Finnick's statement. "You mean... you don't think it's a terrible plan?"

Finnick shrugged.. "Well, It's not exactly the best one, but I don't think it's a terrible one either. Honestly, if this bunny is as clever as you say he is, then take it from someone that gets his mentality a little better; he probably ain't gonna spill the beans just from asking him."

Nick turned himself around so he was facing Finnick directly. "Then... what do you think I should do? I know you say I shouldn't rely too much on your opinion, but I only have a vague plan; I don't know where exactly to go from here."

Finnick crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Hmmmm… well, if you really want to know, I think that you'll find that the best lies are rooted in truth. Not only do mammals do it to rationalize their bullshit half lies, but it makes it more convincing sense it's close to what actually happened, without the full story. And if he really is this super amazing secret agent you say he is, making that sort of lie and hiding it might be like second nature to him; I'm willing to bet he's had to do that kind of shit for months at a time in the past."

Finnick suddenly then pointed up a finger in the air before opening his eyes at Nick with a small smirk. "But if he's really in love with yah, then there's no way he would feel good about doing that sort of thing. So I think if you go with your plan of trying to dig up some dirt on what actually happened, then as you said, you might have the perfect opportunity to surprise and wring the truth out of him."

Nick turned back around in his seat and thought on the small fox's words for a moment. 

"Rooted in truth.. his story... Then maybe… maybe the story he said really did happen, but..." Nick's put a paw on his chin for a moment as his brain continued to churn the information.

"… A random women. He said it was a random women, but... Speedy may have mentioned something about picking a partner and... mentioned this woman's personality."

Nick, feeling sobered up from this sudden discovery, instantly stood up from the bar stool.

"Sorry for leaving on short notice, but I think I have something I need to do while the iron is hot."

Nick quickly put down a 20$ bill on the table for his tab and without another word almost ran out of the bar. Finnick watched him leave with a shake of his head and content look on his face as he casually took the 20$ bill and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Dumb, love struck fox."

* * *

Nick tapped away at his phone as he entered the ZPD building, texting Jack.

"Sorry for not stopping by, Jack, but something important came up. We'll hang out a little later today or tomorrow."

Nick waited for a few moments before approaching the front desk, having a feeling that he was probably waiting on his phone at the café. As expected, he got a reply right away.,

"Hmm I see, well if you think it's important, then no big deal, I'll manage I think. But come back soon, ok?"

And with a small hesitation afterward, Jack sent another message.

"Love you!"

Nick felt a little splinter go up through his spine at that last one. The two didn't act very differently in public, but little messages like that were always a reminder to Nick that the two indeed were more then just friends now; and the message egged him on to find out the truth that much more.

Clawhauser was busy typing away at his phone in an almost dramatic fashion as Nick approached the front desk, the large cheetah taking a moment to even notice he had arrived.

"Oh, Nick, hey! Oh man, I didn't even notice you there, sorry; I was just busy defeating the forces of Xeno on my smart phone… And uuhh, doing my job, of course."

Nick only smiled at Clawhauser's usual antics as he leaned his elbow casually on the front desk.

"So Clawhauser, buddy, I need a little favor from yah... And it's an important one."

The cheetah gave Nick a warm smile. "After all those doughnuts you've given me I think I can spare at least one. What do you need? Maybe some dirt on Fangmeyer drunk at the bar?" Clawhauser mused with light giggle.

Nick shook his head. "No dirt this time, I don't consider drunken dancing an important favor, after all. What I need is access to some of the ZPD's archives, specifically something about my partner, Jack."

Clawhauser's face turned a bit more serious and wide eyed at Nick's request, the cheetah, a few seconds later, looked off to the side with an obvious nervous sweat.

"Oh Uuhh, jeez Nick, I... I really don't know if I can do that..."

Nick closed his eyes for a second and put his two paws together in front of him for a brief moment.

"Look, buddy... we've known each other's for... about almost a year now, at least long enough to say we are friends?"

"Weeeellll, you do always know where to get the best sweets." He said almost drooling a little at the end of his sentence.

"Right. Well, look, I know for a fact you know everyone in this station… including whoever the archiver here is. And I'm also willing to bet that you could persuade said archiver to open up a certain file about my partner that I need."

Clawhauser scratched one of his cheeks. "I know you said it's important and all that, but I mean… this is information on a previous secret agent were talking about, I reeeeaalllyy don't think I should."

Nick paused for a moment at his response and dramatically sighed with a dejected expression. "Alright, well I tried…" Nick started to turn around and sulkingly walk away. "I guess I just... won't be able to bring you anymore of those doughnuts from now on, really is such a shame."

Clawhauser let out a sudden gasp and leaned forward in his seat. "W-Wait, you can't just stop bringing those in, nobody else here gets how good Cindy's bakery is!"

Nick lazily shrugged back. "Yeah, well, maybe somebody else will. It's too bad too, they even had some seasonal pumpkin spiced chocolate and strawberry filled doughnuts in this month… oh well."

Clawhauser chewed at his fingers and jumped up and down between his legs as Nick continued to walk away; the fox could practically hear his apprehension.

"Nnngggh okay, okay fine, I'll help you! I'll get Nigel to do me a favor sense he owes me for helping him out with his choreographed dancing, but you better come back to work with two dozen of those specialty doughnuts!"

Nick, putting on a smug smirk, turned back to Clawhauser. "You got yourself a deal."

* * *

Nigel typed away at the computer with a rather bored expression as Nick patiently waited behind him. Even for a male deer, the guy was quiet gruff looking. In fact, it was almost like any fun he had in life had been completely sucked out of him in his younger years; it was hard to imagine someone like him doing dancing…

"Alright, I found the specific file you were looking for. Most of his agent work is completely restricted, but there are still a few cases available of his short time in Zootopia itself. Unfortunately, there is very little here on the specific mission you are asking about." 

Nick had a feeling this would be the case. "Doesn't matter, show me anything you can."

Nigel typed in a few more things before something appeared on screen.

"As far as the mission you were looking for, it's mainly just a few bits of information on Speedy himself and his relationship with his brother... says he escaped. But as far as Jack himself... Oh, this is interesting."

The deer pulled up another file on the computer. "There is actually a filed psychiatric report on Jack, specifically tied to the case."

Nick's ears perked in curiosity as he quickly went up next to the deer and looked at the screen. "Let me see that."

Nick started reading the report to himself.

_**Jack Savage, assigned to Jessica Rosaria.** _

_**Analysis: Suffering from severe trauma, depression, and potential mental instability.** _

_**Incident: Death of Skye Vulpes** _

_**Psychiatrists Notes: Jack, having lost someone on an interpersonal level, is currently in a state of grievance; he is having trouble accepting Skye's death and is consistently blaming himself. Progress on his current condition is slow, immediate job relocation maybe suggested for safety of the patient's mental health.** _

Nick thought carefully about the information presented to him.

_Skye Vulpes? I don't think Jack has ever once mentioned her before. And important to him on a personal level; so much for just some random civilian. To think that iron willed bunny went through something like this._

"Did you get what you wanted?" Nigel asked boredly.

"Maybe not what I expected, but I have another lead at least…"

* * *

Jessica stared at Nick with a very straight, un-amused look; the fox looked back with a nervous, pleading smile on his face.

"…Nick, you realize I cannot disclose information about any previou-"

"Yes, yes, I know that, okay!" Nick shouted out before quickly calming himself. "I... know, but... please, this is… I.. I don't know what else to do, ok? This information it's… it's really important for me and our relationship; which, by the way, almost nobody else knows about except you now."

Jessica let out a sigh before crossing her arms. "And is that supposed to make me feel special, somehow? I listen to people's secrets for a living, you know."

"Yeah I know, alright, I… look, what is it going to take to get you to tell me about what happened? You want money? I'll gladly give you any amount you want if it meant getting to that information. I can pull some strings for something else you want.. I know a lot of people after all, get you a date maybe, something less legal?"

Jessica raised her eyebrow at Nick. "Why are you going so far just for this information?"

"Because I want this relationship to work!" Nick yelled out before slamming his fist down on the desk, calming himself down afterward.

"I… I really don't know what else to do. It's been such a short time… and maybe I'm just overacting, thinking this is so damn important, maybe I don't know if the two of us are even meant for one another… but I just want something to work out in my life for once..."

Nicks voice started to crack a little as his tone became somewhat rough.

"I barley even got a day with him before this shit came up… I haven't even been in anything remotely close to a true relationship tell now, and already it's like life doesn't want me to have it. And… if this little thing between us ends up becoming the driving force separating us down the line, and this information you have ends up becoming the reason we stick together, then you better be damn well sure I'll find a way to get it, legally or not."

Nick's tone become much more determined by the end of his sentence as Jessica unflinchingly stared at the fox for quite some time.

"…You know, you really don't have to give me such a melodramatic speech. I have to give you credit for coming up with that last minute though. And… I suppose sense you were only half bullshitting me, I might be able to help you a little."

Not even caring that Jessica partially saw through his facade, Nick's face lit up with joy.

"Then, you'll tell me-"

" _Part_ of what you want to know… sense only a part of your own speech was convincing."

Nick frowned at her response.

"Don't worry, I have more reasoning for it then just to sass you." Jessica continued. "Much like you, I can understand how Jack might be a hard nut to crack, and how vital this information maybe in getting him to open up. But.,. I also believe when it comes to relationship, communicating with one another is key; telling you the entire story would make it to one sided. So instead of telling you everything, I want you to try using what information I have for you to get the full story out of him."

Nick smiled at her in response and seemed ready to say something before Jessica held up one of her hooved digits at him.

"But I will not be the one to tell you, I'm afraid; I adhere very strongly to my ethical code, and not just for legal reasons. However... I can redirect you to someone that can tell you what you need to know."

* * *

Nick stood in front of a door for a brief moment, examining the details on the white painted wood. He took a deep breathe before knocking a few times.

A few seconds later, an older looking white vulpine opened it up.

"Oh why, you must be Nick! And you're so much handsomer then you sounded on the phone!" The vulpine quipped, electing a somewhat solemn smile from the fox.

"Hello, Mrs. Vulpes. Sorry for contacting you on such short notice, and I know you don't really know who I am, but-"

"Oh shush, Mr. Wilde, that little story you gave me was more than enough reasoning to chat with you; it's been oh so long sense I've heard anything about Jack, after all. And I was just so thrilled to know that sweet little bunny was able to find someone else in life."

Nick chuckled lightly. "Thank you, Mrs. Vulpes… uhm, may I?"

"Oh sure, sure, come on in! And please, call me Marie."

Nick slowly took a sip of tea that Marie had made for him as the two sat in the rather flowery, but comfy, living room chairs. The place was adorned with an almost strange amount of flowers and white coloring while the rest of the area was taken up by old china plates and adornments; the strange set pieces taking up space on any shelf they could fit on. The building by all means screamed of old, yet Nick couldn't help but find it oddly comforting.

Marie took a sip of tea and looked down on the ground with a somewhat sad look on her face. She was contemplating the rather long story Nick had just told her, and she seemed to be thinking about what to say next. The vulpine slowly put down her cup on the table across from the two of them.

"So, he's not talking about it, huh? Sounds like the young little bunny I used to know has gone through a lot sense I last saw him... but deep down, I bet he hasn't really changed."

Marie smiled as Nick's own expression remained somewhat neutral.

"I... don't really know what else to do right now." Nick said, with uncertainty. "And to be honest, as things currently are, I don't think he'll be opening up about it anytime soon. I don't know how much you know about the whole situation, and I know asking about your daughter's death isn't easy... but…"

Marie simply kept the smile on her face as she casually took a hold of her tea cup. "It's been a long time sense then, Mr. Wilde; believe me, I've had plenty of time to accept what happened. Every parent wants their children to outlive them, but you know, life is full of unexpected twists and turns."

Marie slowly swirled the tea in her cup as Nick examined her expression.

"You don't have to tell me all the details if you don't want… I just-"

"Skye and Jack did always have an interesting relationship with one another." Marie interrupted.

"The reason I know so much about him was because Skye always mentioned him to me. Back then, It always seemed like the two did almost everything together: eating out, movies, dancing, pretty much anything you could think of. She came home one day, mentioning a bunny of all species she met at a bar, and that things just hit off between them. She said Jack didn't really know many people in the city, so any chance he got he would be with her. I'd guess any other friends he made were probably through my daughter."

Marie took a sip of her tea.

"And finally, one day, Jack came over here; and even to an old lady like myself, he was so genuinely kind and caring. I never got the feeling he was acting that way just to impress me because I was her mother, it felt like it was just the kind of mammal he was. It was at that moment that I thought with certainty that those two were made for one another; that despite all the failed romances my daughter used to have, she had finally found the one."

Marie's expression turned somewhat bitter as she again put down her tea, setting her paws calmly on her legs.

"But... apparently I was the only one really thinking that. When I asked Skye about it, she said they were only friends, and that she would never be with a rabbit. I tried explaining that I didn't think Jack felt the same, but she wouldn't listen to me, I think she adamantly just... wasn't interested in anyone that wasn't a fox. And many months passed sense that conversation, and apparently Jack had opened his feelings to her, only to get promptly rejected afterward."

Marie let out a small sigh.

"But even so, that didn't stop Jack, he started actually going out of his way to prove that he could be a good boyfriend to her. Honestly, he went so far that Skye, of all foxes, started to actually feel guilty about it. There was no doubt that rabbit was madly in love with her, and he wasn't ready to take no for an answer until he knew with certainty. But before anything could come of it… she…"

Marie put a paw on her left arm as her face scrunched up slightly.

"…She didn't make it that far. I don't know all the details of what happened that day, but what I do remember is Jack coming over here to tell me the news before any official report, and even though I was the one that raised that child sense her birth, Jack was the one that ended up needing comfort that day. I had dealt with many hardships in my life, yet never had I once seen a mammal as distraught as Jack was; seeing such a strong willed young man break down like that was almost as heart breaking as her own death. He stayed with me at the house for the entire night that day, I gave him Skye's bed hoping it might be therapeutic somehow. But I don't know if it helped or not sense by the time morning came, he was gone… It's quiet strange to think it happened so many years ago, I still remember it like it was yesterday."

Marie closed her eyes for a brief moment before letting out a relieving sigh, a small smile returning to her face afterward.

"And well… I basically haven't seen him sense. Not that I by any means expect to, of course, but that's just as far as my own knowledge extends. Anything else you'd need to ask Jack himself; but given your relationship, I'm sure he'd be willing to if you asked."

Nick clasped his paws together on his lap as he took in the story Marie had told him. The idea that Jack had to go through all that hurt Nick, but what hurt him more was being lied to about it. It's not like Nick himself couldn't fully understand, he had plenty of terrible events in his life he honestly winced at even thinking about having to tell Jack… but at the same time, if those events had come up to the fore front of his life, he couldn't see himself lying about it, not anymore.

"I hope I was of some help to you, Mr. Wilde." Marie said innocently, interrupting Nick's thoughts.

"Yes... you were very helpful Mrs. Vul… Marie. I think I got all the information I need, and I'm sorry for having to-"

"No more apologies, Mr. Wilde, I told you all of that of my own volition. Save your apologies for those that need them."

Nick couldn't help but almost smile at seeing such a strong-minded vixen. However, Nick losing track of time, suddenly took out his phone and looked at it. Surprisingly, it was only about 7:00pm. Even though Nick had the time to, he wasn't sure if he should say something to Jack right away; so much had been happening between them in such a short time span.

"I think the sooner you tell Jack, the better." Marie suddenly said, as if reading Nick's mind.

Nick gave her a somewhat shocked expression. But seeing Marie only looked at Nick with a warm smile made Nick also put one on. "Alright... I'll do as you say then. Thanks again for telling me all this and, well... even believing me in the first place."

Marie got up from her seat, electing for Nick to do the same as she walked up to him.

"Oh think nothing of it dear, us foxes can tell when someone's truly lying after all; even in my old age." Marie gave Nick a playful wink.

Nick let out a low chuckle. "Oh, believe me, I would never attempt to pull wool over your eyes, Marie, but I think I may need to show a certain bunny that he shouldn't attempt to do the same to me either. That rabbit's about to get taught a lesson he won't soon forget..."


	9. Jack's Past

Jack couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at Nick while the fox drove the two of them back home that night. It was pretty clear he was curious about the fact Nick had been gone for at least good portion of the day, yet Nick didn't seem too keen on telling him why at the moment. The fox had stayed fairly quiet when the two met up again, and even now, he simply kept his head forward while paying attention to the road.

The rabbit stared at Nick for a few more seconds before he began to speak up. "Sooo Nick, do you... want to talk about what-"

"When we get home, Stripes."

Jack stared at Nick for a few more seconds and sighed, looking back towards the window.

Nick knew he was being a little too obvious about how he was feeling, but he was finding it difficult to put on his usual facade at the moment. Only three days in a relationship, and already something of this magnitude was rearing its ugly head in his life. One day, he was completely swept away from getting together with him officially, and later in that same day, he had been lied to by him. Why? Why couldn't Jack just tell him the truth, what did he hope to gain from coming up with such a clever lie? Nick couldn't think of a good answer, and so he would have to fish one out of him.

Really a part of him was almost wishing he hadn't gone on such a crusade to find the truth; this wasn't something Nick needed deal with right now, or even wanted to. But Nick had a feeling he wouldn't be sleeping well at night if he attempted to push this back, he couldn't ignore it now. Besides, it was already difficult enough not just angrily spouting at Jack in some desperate attempt to release all the emotions and feelings going through him right now; thank god he knew better.

Jack sank himself back in his seat as he looked over at Nick; despite the fox trying to keep a cool expression on, the bunny could still see his subtle apprehension, and it didn't look pretty. In a somewhat desperate attempt to change the atmosphere, Jack spoke up to his partner again.

"Were getting pretty close; you want to maybe head to my house today instead? I got some really great wine we can try and finish up."

"Sure thing." Nick responded plainly, halting any further advancement in conversation at the moment.

Once the two of them had arrived, they simultaneously left the car and went towards the apartments. Once they were inside, they took off their jackets and found themselves sitting at a table together with a bit of red wine. Barley a word had even been uttered during their time from the car to sitting at the table; Nick was in an almost zombie like state at the moment, he almost seemed like he wasn't even aware he was with Jack. And the rabbit didn't need to be a genius to now clearly tell something is up.

Trying to get the ball rolling, Jack started to speak up. "…So, do you uhm, want to mention anything that... happened today? I can understand if maybe you're not in the mood for it right now, but I can tell-"

"I don't know Jack, maybe you have something to say instead."

Nick's tone was despondent, the fox not giving Jack much breathing room.

The rabbit, unsure of how to exactly respond, awkwardly tapped his digits on the desk. "Well, I was the one asking about you're day, but… As for me, all I did was talk to a few old buddies of mine before visiting a different friend of mine here, it wasn't to eventful."

Nick's expression kept neutral as he took a sip of his wine. "It seems like the only thing you ever do when I'm not around is visit old buddies..."

Nick definitely wasn't making this easy for the bunny; the way he was acting made it seem like he was more directly upset at Jack rather than anything else.

And just as Jack seemed to start taking the hint better, Nick quickly spoke up again. "To be honest, I haven't been thinking about anything that happened today… I was sort of wondering about yesterday. You're reaction was pretty extreme, especially for a woman you don't even know…"

Jack looked down on the table, wearing a subtlety nervous expression on his face; in a way, it was almost too obvious for someone like Jack. But other than his nervousness, there wasn't much else to his expression; he still wasn't too sure what Nick was getting at.

"Oh, well... if that's all you were wondering about it was just-"

"Her name was Skye, right?"

As expected, any mask that Jack wore was completely destroyed just from that simple word; the look on his face was almost one of horror as Nick uttered the vixen's name.

It only took Jack a few seconds to understand what Nick saying her name meant for him right now; in almost an instant, it had looked as if Jack practically broke out in a cold sweat. The bunny found himself unable to even look up at Nick right now, his face contorted into one of strain as his ears sunk down behind him.

"H-How… How did you know her…" 

"I knew something was wrong when you went to sleep with me last night. It wasn't only just the outburst you had at Speedy that day, but in your sleep, you ended up crying and calling out my name, almost like I was about to somehow leave you."

Nick observed Jack for a moment after he started speaking the truth to him. For the most part, the bunny simply kept an exasperated expression on as he still couldn't seem to bring himself to look up from the table.

"...I got in contact with Skye's mother, who told me what she knew about you and the vixen. You were in love with her, and even though she didn't return the favor to you, you still couldn't help but hold that same feeling. The woman you weren't able to save wasn't a random civilian, it was the mammal you had fallen in love with, wasn't it."

Nick couldn't help but have an irritated edge to the words he spoke to Jack. He knew better then to have an outburst at his partner, but he was far from happy about having to force this out of Jack given the circumstance of what happened between them.

And Jack seemed to be having a difficult time even coming up with an answer; any defenses he had were already shot down at this point, and all that was left was a rabbit desperately clinging to the logical and more tempered side of himself. "I… I didn't mean to hurt-"

"Then why did you lie to me!" Nick yelled, unable to hold himself back as his fist banged hard against the table.

Jack flinched at his fist slamming the wood; but even so, the bunny didn't let his own emotions get to him. Despite his twitching nose and shaking body, the rabbit finally turned his head away from the table to look at Nick's eyes.

"I-If I tell you, can you... can you just... listen to everything I have to say?" Jack said in a pleading tone.

As much as a part of Nick wanted to just go off on Jack right now, he held back his tongue. Deep down, he knew that this wasn't easy for Jack just as much as it wasn't easy for him, it would be unfair to really yell at him without hearing his side of the story. Trying to calm himself down, Nick retreated back some of his anger and closed his eyes while letting out a forced sigh. A few seconds later, he opened them back up and looked at Jack, still holding a clearly irritated gaze.

"Only a few days ago, I suggested that we be truthful with one another, no matter what. And before even a week had passed, you already broke that promise. I'll listen to what you have to say, but one thing I can't promise is that I'll like it."

Jack's head very slowly nodded in response to Nick as he understood the position he put himself in. Before saying anything ,the rabbit finished off the rest of his wine with one fell swoop in a somewhat forced attempt to relax.

"Alright, Nick… I'll, I'll tell you everything... no hiding, or bullshit this time. As I'm sure you were told, it all started when I feel in love with Skye. I was new to Zootopia, didn't know many animals, and she was one of the first mammal's I had ever met here. It was just a brief encounter at a bar, but already she had taken my breathe away that day. Intelligent, immaculate, funny, snarky, perhaps a little cynical, yet oh so friendly once you got to know her. And the best part was, she was also interested in me, an overly enthusiastic bunny from from the country side."

Jack couldn't help but wear a sad smile on his face as he got lost in some of his own thoughts. "I had never met anyone like her compared to rabbit's in bunny burrow, she was one of a kind to me. We started to hang out almost every single day if we got the chance, and it didn't take long for me to learn I liked her as more than just a friend. She told me everything going on in her life and I, in turn, revealed almost everything about myself to her as well. I became a part of her circle, all her friends became my friends... We had gotten so close to each other so quickly that In my mind, it felt like we were already a couple before actually being in a relationship. But of course, being a couple in your mind is no good. Once I had finally gotten the courage to even say something to her, I was rejected without second thought."

Jack closed his eyes briefly as his voice became calmer. "In hindsight, I should have known better; she liked me, but she had no true interest in anyone beyond her own species. Not that I could blame her; I mean... it isn't a common thought, and clearly it was a thought she didn't even want to entertain. But even so, I was young, still a bit naive, and I thought if I proved to her my love she would see what she was missing. But..."

Jack's voice trailed off momentarily as the light smile on his face disappeared. "I didn't even get the chance for my naivety to be proven wrong. Speedy proved way more resourceful then I initially thought; he was making noise to specifically get me to come out after him. He did research on me, and got someone to find out that I had an interest in Skye. I wasn't used to someone trailing me back then and I wasn't even technically part of the M16 as an initiate, and… I didn't see it coming. He found her, took her hostage, and lured me into a trap that I went into willingly."

For a second, Jack stared blankly at his wine glass, contemplating if he should refill it. But after a few moments, he pushed back the glass as if rejecting the thought. "I was a lot cockier back then; still in the middle of my training, I thought with the utmost certainty I could get her back. But once I fought my way to Speedy himself, I choked when I actually saw her. A large paw at her throat, gun against her head... I was completely frozen stiff. I could barely hold my gun straight, and I had no choice but to let her go."

Jack tried to keep his emotions in check during his story, but even so, he couldn't help but let a frown slip on his face. "I… I thought maybe I could trace him, I could corner him somehow, that maybe he would just take her with him as a captive. But when I went after his trail… she had… she was already..."

Jack's voice began to crack at the last words of his sentence. A few mixtures of emotions crossed Jack's face as he continued to use what strength he had left to hold back what was trying to well up inside him. And in turn Nick's own neutral expression had softened.

"And… I know what you're thinking; you're thinking, why I would ever hide something like this? Why wouldn't I just tell you from the get go? But way back when... when you had only just gotten out of the psychiatrist office, and you asked me if I had ever been in love, at the time I… I wasn't thinking about the consequences of what I said to you; I was still clinging to the idea that it was best to just be there as a supportive friend. I never imagined we'd be together like this, I never imagined things would turn out anything like they are right now. I didn't want you to ever see that side of me, I wanted you to see me as unflinching, as someone you could always rely on."

A few tears started to form in the corners of Jack's eyes as Nick's softening expression turned somber. "And back then I... I didn't think I'd ever get close enough to you that I'd even get a chance to date you, and even yesterday I... I still didn't want to worry you, o-or seem like I was just some burden on you… a-and I thought if I told you the truth, y-you'd just think I was unreliable... a-and that I wasn't the same confident rabbit you had fallen in love with. A-And then you'd think I was just a liar… and I just... I..."

Jack put one of his paws on his forehead as a small sob started to break out. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for being so weak… I'm such a useless, fucking boyfriend. A-And I know I don't deserve to be with you after lying like this… A-And I..."

Without Jack even realizing it, Nick was already right next to the rabbit and with a swift motion, gave him a strong hug. Jack, in turn, hugged him back without hesitation as he continued to cry. Any anger that had been rising in Nick's heart had been instantly quelled by Jack's words. What Nick had initially thought to be the rabbit trying to selfishly hide something from him, turned out to be the most strangely unselfish thing possible. Nick couldn't bring it in himself to blame or condemn the rabbit any further for what he did; but even still, it wasn't what he wanted.

Nick caressed the rabbits back. "Easy there buddy, It's going to be okay."

Jack shook his head against his chest as he continued to sob. "No, no it's not okay! I lied to you Nick, I-I.."

"Jack…"

Nick looked down at the bunny. "Back when we made that promise to each other, you know that promise wasn't just for ourselves right?"

Nick grabbed Jack's shoulder's and pushed him back from their hug, locking his eyes with Jack's. "That promise wasn't just to make sure we were honest with one another, it was also to make sure we would support each other, no matter what happened. No matter what weak willed or terrible decision you ended up making, I made that promise to be there to listen to you, to support you. I don't care about any preconceptions of what it means to be weak or strong, I just want to know the truth so that I can get to know the real Jack."

Nick slowly began to caress Jack's cheek and wipe away some of the tears forming in his eyes. "Nothing you said means your weak, Jack… all it means is your mortal. I don't want you to be some un-moving pillar of support in my life; I just want you to be my boyfriend."

Jack looked up at Nick with wide eyes as he felt more tears begin to form in his eyes. "N-Nick, I.."

But Nick halted his words with his own advancement; bending his head forward toward the rabbit, his eyes already half closed, he whispered,

"No more talking…"

Nick pressed his muzzle right onto Jack's as the two engaged in a loving and passionate kiss. The tears that were forming in Jack's eyes quickly dispersed as he felt the heat of Nick's long tongue gently swirl against his own mouth. Any sadness or fatigue the two were feeling had almost evaporated at this point, the only emotion that remained, overpowering any other feeling, was a deep and requited love for each other.

The two ended up breaking the kiss with a few heavy breathes of air, both of them wearing a blush on their face.

"Haa… Nick, are you really sure-"

"I said no more talking, Stripes." Nick responded in a exasperated voice, putting on a smug grin.

"I know you're probably sick of me interrupting you, but I think any more discussion about this would just be wasted at this point."

Jack, seeming to get a bit more sense back into him, gave Nick an understanding nod before lightly putting his arms around Nick's stomach. "You know I still love you though, right?"

Nick returned the hug. "Don't worry Jack, I know."

The rabbit looked up at Nick with a light smile on his face. "Look Nick I'll... I'll just say that I promise to make it up to you, okay? It's the very least I can do, and I won't be taking no for an answer."

Nick's grin became toothy and a little mischievous as he suddenly bent himself over to look closely into Jack's eyes. "Is that so? Well, you know, I have been entertaining a few thoughts in my head recently... would you be willing to make it up to me right now?"

Jack seemed to get the implication, but, to Nick's disappointment, retreated a little bit with a nervous grin. "Erhm... m-maybe not right now… but I promise to eventually..."

Nick raised an eyebrow at Jack's response; even in this context it was always strange seeing Jack get so flabbergasted. But even though Nick wanted to go off the high of the situation, there was no point in forcing Jack or rushing it for that matter.

"Hmm, very well then, fluff... Maybe not today, but one day I expect to see the favor returned, in full." Nick gave Jack a quick wink.

Jack, hiding some of his previous nervousness, put on a slightly seductive expression while pushing one of his fingers down his chest. "It's a promise… but for now, how about we just watch a movie and get some early sleep."

It was a little too obvious the rabbit was forcing that one, but Nick appreciated it regardless. "Whatever you say, Carr-, or uh, Stripes."

Jack giggled. "Told you, you don't have enough unique nicknames, or do you just refer to all rabbits as Carrots?"

Nick shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? All you bunnies just look alike to me."

Jack punched the side of Nick's arm as the fox's winced. "Alright you dumb fox, enough joking around, let's get to that movie!"

Nick rubbed his arm as he let a low chuckle. "If it means I don't get punched again, gladly"

Jack jumped over the coach and towards his collection of movies, shifting through them as Nick stared at him fondly.

_Maybe I really am just worrying over nothing; In fact, I can barley even remember why I was so concerned in the first place. Jack may not be perfect, but I have a feelings things will only pan out for the better from now on._


	10. From Old Friends to New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but I've been doing some hard core editing through out my fic, adding more details to it! It's a long one, so I wouldn't say you have to re-read it if you don't want, but it might be worth you're time to at least read through chapter 2; I re-wrote a large portion of it to the point it's fairly different. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Nick slowly opened his eyes as a familiar shine of light hit his face. He was sprawled across the bed with one of his arms lying off the edge of it. And next to the fox, wearing only some boxer’s, was Jack; clinging to one of Nick’s arms.

Nick turned his head so he could get a good look at him; the bunny was sound asleep and curled up against him. Jack's nose and ears occasionally twitched as he seemed lost in his dreams: his chest slowly expanded up and down every time he took a breath, his fur gleamed from the rays of sunshine, and even his toned, yet soft frame seemed to be extenuated from the lighting that morning... the bunny was hard to look away from.

But it was for that exact reason that Nick forced his head to look the other way. He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face as he tried getting the thought of Jack out of his mind. After a moment of hesitation, Nick moved his arm away from the jack rabbit to escape his grasp, and got out of bed.

The fox stretched himself out as he stood up and groggily walked over to the bathroom to take a good gander in the mirror. As expected, his fur was disheveled and messy just like yesterday; In fact, it was even worse than yesterday, and the day before that. It seemed his extended time off was starting to have its effect

A few days ago, Jack, using his skills of manipulating emotions, had managed to convince Bogo that the two actually needed the entire week off from work. He didn’t tell Nick the full story, but he overheard bits and pieces of Jack’s somewhat dramatic voice acting that day. From what Nick could tell, it involved something about facing his demons and trying to let go of his pent up anger; that rabbit sure knew how to ham it up when he needed to. It was almost a little scary that he actually had the power to convince the chief, of all people, to give them extra time off.

But regardless of the means, the two got the entire week all the way up until Monday as a result; and for the past 4-5 days now, they’ve been using that time to just… chill. Really, it was even more then just chilling though, the two of them had felt like practical sloths. The duo had done every single possible thing they could think of together in the laziest way possible: watching bad movies, drinking at home together, sleeping on top of one another, sometimes even harassing a few ZPD officers just for kicks. It almost felt like Nick had found his first lover in high school, and all they would do with their free time was fuck around.

But unlike a teenage high school couple, the two hadn’t engaged in anything beyond just hanging out. There was something missing from the equation that allowed the analogy to work, specifically something Nick wanted. And what was is that the fox craved?

Intimacy… The kind of intimacy one couldn’t achieve with just a drunken vixen at the bar or from a few kisses; Nick wanted to experience the real deal, sex. Although the fox had never been with another male, it was hardly a barrier for his desires by this point. Nick knew exactly what he wanted from Jack; there was no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it.

But unfortunately, it seemed like Jack wasn’t reciprocating his feelings. Nick had, on many occasions, danced around the subject with Jack, or teasingly mentioned it to him, and even once straight up asked him about it; but Jack was pretty adamant on the fact he wasn’t ready for something on that level. And to be honest, Nick found it difficult to blame or argue with him about it.

It didn’t take a genius to guess why he act’s so awkward around the subject. From either talking about it or even just light teasing; Nick had a strong feeling that the rabbit had never even had sex. The smooth, slick bunny he knew may not have even had a genuine kiss beyond forced ones on a mission before Nick came along. And even ignoring the fact they’ve been together for just barely a week now, a male fox getting it on with a male rabbit? It was fairly easy to see the anatomy problem there, it made him wonder exactly how difficult even entering Jack would be; he was willing to bet he would be pretty damn tight…

Nick however, violently shook his head back and forth as the thought appeared in his head. These types of feelings had been permeating into the fox’s head a lot as of late, and it was difficult to shake. But it wasn’t simply the thought themselves that were the problem; after all he was in an experienced adult in his 30’s by this point, he felt no need to rush into things, he had patience. No, there was something else pushing the issue at the moment, and making it worse than it should be.

At first, it didn’t seem to be anything that strange, really; having sexual interest in your lover is pretty par for the course. But something was driving his thoughts more than usual lately, pushing him to do things he wouldn’t normally think of at random. Nick considered himself to have very good control over his own baser instincts, so he could tell something was up.

His fur kept getting messier day by day, he didn’t get as good of sleep as he normally could, he felt jittery and had trouble keeping still, his body temperature felt like it was rising… There could be only one answer; it was fox mating season, and Nick was feeling the heat

It always started off as a slow wane for about half a week before one day, he would wake up and suddenly get hit by a brick of hormones; and today was the day that Nick felt just as shitty as he looked in the mirror. His fur was patchy, his breathing was consistently rougher, his nerves felt shot, the skin under his fur felt warm, and he oh so badly wanted to fuck that bunny.

Nick let out a small groan as he laid his head against the wall. He entertained the thought of maybe just straight up telling Jack he was in heat to maybe see if he’d finally give in, but he knew it was no good.  The last thing Nick wanted to do was pressure his partner into something he’s not ready for just because he feels all hot and bothered, it felt like a cheap move to make. There was no point in even doing it with him unless it was mutual anyways.

But keeping it secret also meant keeping his needs in check for almost an entire month straight, while also being around Jack all the time…

“Well, well, look who’s awake early for once.”

Nick jumped at hearing Jack behind him as he turned his head around. Jack was wearing a smug smile with only his boxers on, leaning one of his paws against the entrance of the bathroom.

“You’re fur somehow looks even messier then yesterday. If you want to, we could maybe shower together, and I could help you well... lather down your fur, anyways.”

Nick couldn’t help but perk his ears lightly at Jack’s word. His tone was neutral, but immediately his mind went in another direction. Jack, nude beside him in the shower, the two lathering each other up under the water, the fox’s erection popping up in the middle of rinsing, Nick seductively telling the rabbit he’s in heat, making out with Jack as he felt him up...

_This is the perfect opportunity, Nick! Do it, say yes and show that bunny who’s in charge!_

Nick nervously forced on a smile. “Uh, thanks for the offer, but... I think I’d do better with just a quick, casual shower for right now, if that’s okay with you.”

As usual, Jack was a little suspicious anytime Nick acted strange, raising an eyebrow in response. “Alright well... if you say so. You should definitely take a shower first than sense you look much more disheveled then me, mine will be a lot quicker.”

Jack casually strolled out of the doorway and shut the bathroom door. Nick could tell the rabbit was a little disappointed, but he felt relieved to dodge that bullet.

_What the hell are you doing!? That was the perfect chance to tell him and get it on!_

Nick sighed. “Just shut up…”

Without further hesitation, the fox took off his boxers, and a part of his own erection was already looking at him. He stared down at it with a frustrated look.

“Yeah, I know what you want, but I don’t care; I am _not_ letting you fuck this up! This is way more important then you’re insatiable need for attention!”

Almost as if responding, his member started to poke out even further until at full force. Nick let out another sigh in response.

Not wanting to feel like he was going crazy, Nick stopped talking to his body and turned on the hot water in the shower. The fox very quickly relived himself of his urges, and turned the water on to as cold as he could handle; shaking lightly as he lathered his fur with soap.

Once he was out of the shower and dried off, the fox felt both less stress filled, and in control of his body again. He looked back in the mirror after putting on a clean pair of boxers, his fur now looking nice and groomed as a confident glow exuded from him.

“Now that’s the fox I know.” He said to himself with a grin as he almost pranced out of the bathroom.

Looking for a new set of clothing in Jack’s room, Nick found the rabbit himself already fully clothed. But in comparison to Jack’s usual clothing set the bunny had for days off, he was surprisingly well dressed. Not in a suit, but in a nice black jacket with white stripes covered over an equally nice white shirt, and some slick fitting pants. Jack didn’t seem to be saying anything as he adjusted his jacket and the fox suddenly felt a little strange at putting on a casual shirt.

“Is uh... something going on?” Nick questioned innocently as Jack’s face kept a little stern. He disarmed his expression with a little breathing as he looked over at Nick. “Sorry for telling you this so last minute; I contemplated just mentioning it before, but we kind of got caught up in you know... drinking, and watching movies, and uhm… eating… Okay, I’ve been a little nervous at telling you this at all to be honest, but essentially, we’ll be meeting up with some... friends today.”

Nick shifted his eyebrow at Jack. “Annnnddd I’m assuming these aren’t just casual friends, are they?”

Jack shook his head. “Not quiet; their, well… I know I haven’t told you too much about my years outside of Zootopia, but there three partners I had back in the day… and later on, underlings as well.”

Nick’s expression relaxed a little. “Oh, that’s it? Are you worried what they’ll think of your new, handsome, fox partner?” Nick ended sarcastically as Jack’s expression kept wary.

“That’s just the thing, they don’t really know we’re partners yet, as in you know... relationship partners. I know were both keeping this a secret from the ZPD at the moment sense it would add unnecessary complications, but I... haven’t exactly told any of my friends outside of work either, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to either. So, can you please not mention anything about it to them?”

Nick frowned as his expression became stern. He wouldn’t say he was exactly angry at his partner just for this, but it was the hiding aspect again; it still bothered him.

Nick crossed his arms. “Alright, fine, but let me ask you this; are you ever planning on telling them?”

“Well... eventually.” Jack replied weakly.

Nick loosened his arms and turned away from Jack.

“…You know, I actually told both Finnick and Fangmeyer about us.”

Jack’s ears perked as a small look of panic appeared on his face “Wait, you told Fangmeyer? But he’s-”

“I told him as a friend, Jack, not a ZPD officer. He swore on his own life that he wouldn’t ever tell another soul until we were ready. He also congratulated us, and said if we ever needed his support, we could count on him. And when I told Finnick, even through all of his joking and jesting, he was still happy for me.”

Nick took in a deep breath between his nostrils as his voice softened.

“I understand you’re not exactly used to this whole dating thing... hell, even I’m pretty new to it compared to the other supposed relationships I’ve had in the past. And we don’t need to flaunt it for the whole world to see in one day, but I don’t want to keep it a secret our whole lives either.”

Jack’s face turned more sorrowful as he listened to Nick’s words.

“...Sorry. I had a feeling you might be iffy about it, but I didn’t realize how much this mattered to you.”

 “Well, It doesn’t matter _that_ much to me, but lately in my life I’ve just… I’ve gotten sick of pretending, I suppose. I just want something genuine and real in my life now; outside the job, I want to be able to tell people what a wonderful partner I have, partner and boyfriend.“

Jack looked up at Nick with a more determined expression.

“Look, I promise I’ll definitely tell them, okay? Maybe not right away, but... before they leave this weekend.”

Nick looked down at Jack inquisitively. “Wait, weekend? Where exactly are they staying…”

Jack let out a nervous chuckle. “Uuuhh well, they live far away normally and… at least for the weekend they may be… living here?

“An… entire week?”

Nick could already see the events unfolding in his mind. A busy house filled with animals, no chance to get intimate with Jack, and his own need to mate getting unfulfilled as he desperately jerked off in the bathroom at 2am in hopes that everyone was asleep.

Jack quickly responded after seeing the fox’s uncertain face. “L-Look it was a little hard to say no sense I sort of owed them and, and they don’t really know the city to well, so…”

Nick let out an annoyed groan as he pushed his fingers against his temples. “Okay, fine Jack, they can stay the weekend, not like I have much of a saying.”

Jack expression turned into a wide smile as he quickly gave Nick a small hug. “Thank you, Nick! I promise to make it up to you for this, okay? Consider it a double making up from earlier in the week too.”

Nick’s mind immediately fell into the gutter upon hearing Jack’s words as a few evil ploys played out in his head.

_Well, if this is the kind of game Jack wants to play, than he should be prepared for the consequences…_

Nick put on a grin. “Alright, Stripes, but I’ll be holding you on that last part.”

Jack nodded. “Duly noted. For now, though, put on some nicer clothing; they won’t be over until dinner, but before then, I think we need to force ourselves out of the house for a while.”

And indeed the rabbit was right about that last part. The two had spent some much needed recovery days with one another in the house that they’ve barley left the apartment sense. Even after four days of relaxing, the two still weren’t sure if their thoughts were 100% in order, but they wouldn’t gain much more from doing it any further.

Leaving Jack’s apartment, the two set off to the outside world and… didn’t really do much of anything. They did some causal chatting, walked around town square, people watched, messed with a few slightly annoyed ZPD officers on duty, and really not much else.

For the most part, Jack’s friends coming over were their minds main occupation. The two definitely needed to get out and get some fresh air, but their activities were mostly fluff for until they arrived. Little bits of tension occasionally seeped through the surface of their thoughts as even with their time to relax together, they couldn’t help but think of the very fresh memories of the previous week. Even for as much as Nick was dreading this heat filled weekend, he was actually hoping having Jack’s friends over and learning a bit more about him might help ease their relationship.

Nick knew that, realistically, their relationship was anywhere far from bad; it was in fact, in a lot of ways, great. But even so, the fox couldn’t help but to want things to be perfect between them. He wanted to learn more about Jack, be closer to Jack, be able to help Jack with his own problems, do things with him like he used to with Judy, and of course, do something with the rabbit a bit more… crass.

“Hey Nick, you’re looking a little blue there, compared to being orange that is. You sure you’re feeling well?”

Nick quickly returned to reality and looked down at Jack with a grin as the two continued to walk. “Just a tad under the weather I guess, nothing you need to worry about for later tonight, though.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? You know, you-“

“Jack, if you’re allowed to keep little secrets, then I believe I am as well. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Jack huffed as his face stiffened. “Fine, fine I get it. I know I shouldn’t have kept all that stuff hidden from you, alright?  And I know you-“

“Not like that, Jack!”

Nick asserted, but immediately softened his expression as he saw the rabbit’s startled face.

 “…sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just meant that… what I was saying earlier was more a jest then anything, I didn’t actually mean for it to come across as serious.”

As Jack relaxed, he let out a small sigh through his nostrils. “Right, right, of course you didn't… I’m sorry, too. Maybe we both just need to stop thinking so much.”

Jack looked up at Nick with a soft expressioned grin, Nick returning the favor. “That’s right, Fluff, our brains are too big for our own good.” Nick innocently poked his finger at Jack’s head, electing a wider smile from the rabbit. “Now, let’s get a snack and hang by the bench for now; once the time is right, we’ll head back to your place.”

Jack grabbed a hold of Nick’s paw as the two resumed strolling. “You got it, partner.”

* * *

 

The time had finally come: a few minutes before 7, the house cleaned up nice and tidy, and Jack was preparing some food as Nick casually sat down in the living room table.

“Must you keep everything about them a secret from me? I mean, can’t you at least tell me their species before I meet them; though I’m willing to bet their all preds , right?”

Jack put out a few pots and pans in the kitchen before responding. “Well, anyone that knows anything about tactical espionage and the M16 could guess that. The fact they didn’t even see the use of smaller more nimble prey mammals until now just goes to show you how far entrenched in bias the branch really is. But politics aside, I want you to get to know them yourself, not through me. And if you’re worried about the squad not liking you, don’t be; you’re my partner for a reason, you know.”

Nick chuckled as he lazily fiddled with his empty wine glass. “Whatever you say, Stripes; so long as I get to act like me.”

A few seconds after Nick finished his sentence, a loud knock could be heard at the door.

“M16! Open the fucking door, now!” A gruff female voice shouted from the other side.

“Yo, I didn’t mean for you to actually yell like that, we don’t even know if we got the right door for sure.” A softer male voice replied to her.

“Oh, Just open the damn door already…” An even softer voiced female responded dryly as it finally creaked open.

The first to show up in the fox’s vision was a rather tall female cheetah wearing some black skinny jeans and a loose, white tang top. The most notable features Nick noticed was her aggressive toothy grin accompanied by a lite cigar, her massive biceps and arm strength, as well as something a bit bustier.

She walked in with an exaggerated swagger as behind her was an averagely built, male african wild dog who, in comparison, looked at bit more passive. His eye’s had a fairly distinct light brown color that matched parts of his fur, while his face showed the expression of simple, innocent curiosity.

The third to follow suit, to Nick’s surprise, was a short, slim, orange furred vixen. Her eyes were dark blue and slightly angular, only a few inches away from being completely shut. If the cheetah’s exuded an aura of aggression, this vixen exuded something much more, provocative. However, in comparison to just the cheetah's aggression, the vixen's sexy saunter was much more subtle.

All three of their gazes eventually met Nicks who was, at this point, simply keeping himself to the chair while looking at them with his patented, smug grin on. However, there gaze turned to one of confusion as the group eventually started to look around the room.

“Uh, where the hell is Jack?” The cheetah blurted to Nick.

“Over here!”

Jack shouted from the kitchen a few feet away as everyone quickly turned their head in that direction. Jack, in response, poked his head out from the side with a happy smile on his face before revealing his whole body from behind one of the walls.

“Hey guys, great to see you all again!”

Their faces lite up with excitement as they all ran over to the bunny; the cheetah even picking him up and hugging Jack against her sizeable chest with a tight squeeze.

“It’s about damn time I saw you again you little ball of fluff!” The cheetah shouted out as she quickly released her grip to allow the others go in for a hug one after the other. Jack, meanwhile, kept on his cheerful smile as he simply returned their affection.

The vixen giggled lightly as she was the last one to release her grip. “It really has been too long; you’re looking great as usual!” She said with a bit of charm as the dingo let out a hearty chuckle. “Yeah, man, I barley recognized you without a slick suit on, hope you haven’t gotten too soft on us out here.”

Jack cocked a smile. “Like you’re one to talk, anyways; your stomach is still way harder then you’re personality ever will be.”

The dingo looked away with a lazy smile while rubbing the back of his head. “I’ve gotten a little better... I speak my mind when it’s needed, sometimes.”

As more chatting continued among the four, Nick was left standing by the table, watching them with a content smile on his face. There really was a heartwarming atmosphere to seeing these guys all meeting up after what he assumed was probably years, but he was starting to contemplate if he should even say anything; he almost wanted to leave them up to their reminiscing instead of trying to intervene.

However, the rabbit seemed to notice Nick’s hesitation. Stepping away from the group, he took a few steps toward the fox and turned his head back at the three. “Squad, this is Nick Wilde. He’s the fox I told you about that I’ve been partners with while in Zootopia. You should all introduce yourselves to him.”

Almost without hesitation, the cheetah was the first to walk up to Nick; and before speaking, she used one of her paws to grab the cigar in her mouth and dislodge it from one of her fangs. Using her other hand, she reached out her paw to the fox with a toothy grin.

“Names Uriel, pleasure to meet yah, fox.” Her tvoice seemed naturally deep.

Nick shook her paw back as the cheetah gave him a vice grip in return as if attempting to shatter the bones in the fox’s paw. Trying not to show the sudden pain he was in, Nick strained a reply. “N-Nice to meet you, too...”

Uriel stepped back to let the Dingo approach him as the fox rubbed his paw in pain. “H-Hey dude, I’m Zeke. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you; any guy that’s saved Jack’s life is a friend of mine.”

Nick grinned at Zeke and offered his hand, the dingo responding with a rather soft shake that worked well on his still partially throbbing hand. “So, Jack even told you about that, huh? Hope he didn’t tell you everything about me before I even get to introduce myself.”

“Believe me, he kept details minimal.” The vixen suddenly said, moving her head from around the Dingo before lightly walking up to Nick and pushing him aside with a paw out. She wore a lightly seductive, yet cutesy smile on her face as she looked at him. “Roxy, pleasure.”

Of the three, Nick already had a feeling he knew the most about this one. Playfulness and seduction were usually par for the course for most Vixen’s; not that the stereotype applied to all of them, but female foxes have an even worse rep then male ones. For the most part, however, Nick didn’t sense anything particularly flirty with her compared to the many others he’s known in the past.

Nick put his paw out again as Roxy gave it a good shake, her grasp was surprisingly firm for her otherwise slim and seemingly delicate appearance. “Pleasure’s mine. Glad to see the agency isn’t so speciest that they wouldn’t think to hire a ‘sleazy’ fox.”

Roxy, with a little graceful whip of her tail, went over to one of the seats at the table and sat down. “Well, I’m afraid there isn’t anything to be glad about there; because that’s the reason I got hired. Not that I didn’t have any training or skills, but I was taken in because my supposed slyness would fit in well with their interests. Without going into detail, I was essentially found off the streets of Zootopia as a young lad and was taken in.” Despite the gravity of her story, the vixen had kept on a delicate smile with a content tone to her voice.

Nick couldn’t help but frown, however; he could already guess what block she probably used to live in as a kid for something like that to happen. But before he could even conjure a response, Uriel let out an irritated groan as she roughly shoved a chair back and sat on it, putting up one of her feet on the table shortly afterward.

“Our agency is wriggling in so much prejudice it’s frankly disgusting. Not only do they turn a blind eye to prey and gave Jack some of the most absurd initiate missions ever conceived, but the assholes are even speciest against different types of pred’s. It ain’t even about utilizing what their good at, they just assume shit the minute you’re species x or y.” Uriel used an attached pocket on her pants to snuff out her cigar and put it away as she finished her sentence.

Zeke, following everyone else, sat down in a seat between his two companions as Nick decided to simply do the same; taking a seat across the table, facing all the others. “Hey, come on now, it isn’t all that terrible. I know they like... assume too many things, but we still all got in, and were pretty damn good at our job.”

Roxy giggled at Zeke’s response. “That’s only because the majority of society is filled with morons; unlike those idiots, we know how to actually make use of our intelligence and wit.” Roxy relaxed back in her chair and looked over at Nick as she continued. “We let them assume whatever they want about us, cause at the end of the day, we know how to get the job done.”

The other two, in response, turned there eyes over at Nick with curiosity; the fox suddenly put on the spot. “Well, you know I... initially had some trouble getting into the ZPD cause of my species as well. In the academy, everyone made bets on how long it would take me to fail or decide to quit; the odds were stacked against me.  But if there is one thing I had always learned over the years, it’s to never let anyone see they got to me. So instead of caving, I bet all of my money on me graduating. And well, needless to say, I got a sizable chunk of cash to start off my career with as a result. They failed to realize that I never take losing bets.”

Nick ended his sentence with a confident smile. However, Nick unexpectedly got a very unamused look from all three of the mammals; in fact, their stare was down-right murderous.

“So what, you think you went through more shit then us?” The cheetah suddenly growled aggressively, snuffing out the fox’s smile instantly.

“Uh no, no! Not at all! I... I was just…” Nick wasn’t sure how to respond considering he didn’t fully understand how he ended up offending them. But after a few seconds of stumbling, all three of them burst out into a roarish laughter.

Nick blinked in confusion at this strange turn of events as Jack suddenly entered the room from the kitchen with his arms crossed. “Alright fellas, that’s enough teasing Nick. I know how you guys play, but he’s my partner and I want you to treat him like you would each other.”

Uriel shook her head as she tried suppressing her laugh. “Sorry, Jack, but there’s no way he can be treated as one of us if we didn’t at least do that to him. But considering you were my former sort of boss, I guess we can just leave it at one.”

Zeke let out a few more strange sounding cackles before speaking up. “Hehe, yeah, sorry bud… but also not sorry, hehehe.”

Nick, getting the picture, crossed his arms as a not so amused grin came on his face. “Haha yeah, okay, you guys got me, but just remember to be careful who you hustle, or you might get hustled back.”

The vixen let out a quick giggle at Nick’s retort. “Oh, you want to try that one on me, big boy? I bet I’ve hustled more mammals then the amount of ZPD officers in your precinct.”

Jack rolled his eyes at Roxy’s tease and started walking towards the door. “Well look guys, I forgot an important ingredient to my meal, so I’m going to fetch it. If you have something you want to talk about behind my back to Nick, now would be the time. And Roxy, please try to keep you’re flirting to a minimum...”

The dingo cackled as Roxy only smiled slyly at Jack. “Come on Jack, you don’t need to be jealous, you know I’ll always love you too… as a friend that is.”

Jack, not even bothering to turn his head toward her, opened up the apartment door. “Believe me, I have nothing to be jealous of.” After his statement, he swiftly exited the apartment and shut the door behind him.

Nick almost didn’t know what to think of Jack’s sudden course of action, but he didn’t have too much time to as he felt everyone’s gaze shift towards him, once again. Pushing back a tinge of his nervousness, he put on a sly grin.

“So, does he always act like that around you guys?  As in, suddenly leaving to let you guys talk behind his back?”

His remark elected a rough snicker from the female cheetah. “Yeah, sometimes; Jack’s always been a believer in personal space I think. He doesn’t like us looking at him like he was once our boss, and he used to purposely give us alone time without him to well... talk shit!”

Zeke spoke up afterward. “He treats us more like friends or partners than anything else, he didn’t like the idea of being a ‘boss’ so to speak.  Jack only becomes really leader like in uh... dangerous, situations…”

 “Oh, and speaking of talking behind his back…” Roxy started in a playful tone. “As much as I love that cute, innocent rabbit, even as a friend, he isn’t perfect. The guy has some problems opening up I think. He likes to give us support, but sometimes it feels like he doesn’t let us do the same. Seems like no matter how much I pry I can’t get much out of him.”

Uriel, looking unamused, pointed at Roxy. “Yeah well, that’s because you fit the description of overly sly fox way to well. I still think the reason he took so long to warm up to you was cause he could detect you trying to dig into his past. And don’t even give me that stereotyping bull, even Nick here, I bet, could tell what kind of mammal you are.”

Roxy gave a very irritated glare over at Uriel for a second before looking back at Nick, putting on a much happier smile. “Nick… Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? I mean, we all know you to some extent, but you’ve been his most recent partner. What are some of the things you two have been doing together?”

Nick was keeping a happy go lucky expression on his face as everyone talked, but on the inside, he was feeling a little more serious.  After getting to know Jack, to some extent, more personally then these three, he knew all too well of the bunny’s stubborn streak. But right now, he had a rather incredible opportunity to learn about his past in a way that the rabbit had not even so much as mentioned to Nick. It was clear to him now that Jack had essentially given him permission to do this with his sudden, incredibly obvious, leave.

 _I see you’re game, Jack. That’s quite a sly and roundabout way of opening up though; I’m not sure if I really approve of it. But I guess you still want to keep your friends here in the dark, huh?_ Nick thought to himself as he grasped the situation.

 “Well, trust me when I say me and that rabbit have been through quite a few... interesting situations together; probably just as many as you guys have gone through. But if we’re going to be hanging out for the entire weekend like Jack told me, then I think you’ll find plenty of time to learn about me with Jack. But for right now he’s gone, and If I’m being honest, I’m a little more curious about his past with you three.”

The three, in response, looked around at each other for a few seconds before Uriel spoke up. “Guess I should have figured that ball of fluff never even mentioned us to you. Were all trained by the same agency, but that rabbit takes the idea of keeping secrets to a new level. I never really understood it personally, but dingus here says it’s probably just ‘a part of his personality more than anything’ or whatever.” She said, mocking Zeke.

And as the dingo started to slowly raise a finger in the air, Roxy suddenly leaned forward on the table and spoke up instead. “Well, let’s not talk about anything Nick here has already been able to guess… You want to know something about him he hasn’t told you, right?”

Nick only nodded his head in response as Roxy’s grin widened.

“Well, did you know that Jack... seriously needs to get laid?”

Suddenly both Roxy and Zeke started to break out in a light laugh as Uriel seemed the only one disappointed. “Hey, I was supposed to be the one to tell him that! I already had the joke figured out in my head and everything!”

Roxy waved her hand at Uriel. “Yeah, well, I never officially agreed to that. All that matters is he knows anyways.”

Nick raised his eyebrow as he got the sense something more was going on . “Are you guys... planning something here?”

Zeke let out a few more snickers before speaking up. “Well, sort of... we haven’t seen Jack in a while, and we were kind of trying to think of a way to ask you if he maybe found a girlfriend, or you know... anyone.”

Nick, immediately picking up the picture, couldn’t help but wear a giant smirk on his face as he crossed his arms. “No... he hasn’t found anyone, in fact… I was starting to wonder myself if he’s ever even been with someone for that matter.”

Uriel put on an excited grin. “I know, right!” She turned her head to Roxy. “See, I told you that bunny totally needs to fuck someone! I mean, it’s in his blood for christ sake, I’d be uptight If I never got laid either.”

Roxy crossed her arms, trying to hide her annoyance with a smile. “Yeah, alright I suppose. It’s not that I don’t agree, but I always thought there was something more to it than just that. I just remember the strange looks he would give me sometimes during our first missions together, it was so… Well, it’s hard to describe.”

“You’re just overthinking it, Roxy.” Zeke replied. “It’s a biological need, after all, sometimes it’s as simple as getting a little bit of action.”

Nick put on a mischievous grin. “Well, from the way you guys are talking about it, it sounds like you might have a plan here. And whatever that plan is, count me in.”

Nick had a feeling this probably wasn’t the best way of trying to get Jack to come out, but he was feeling a bit vengeful right now; and being in heat certainly didn’t help. But either way, the fox wasn’t about to let this potentially hilarious situation slip by him.

_Looks like it’s time to pull off a little bit of a hustle…_


	11. Friction and Attrition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another chapter out of nowhere! Not sure when another chapter after this will be produced, but for now, enjoy this one.

Jack’s ears twitched lightly as he turned his head around, continuing to walk forward. He could hear the sounds of a gruff, female cheetah laughing behind him as she began to speak up.

“You don’t really think you’re going to pick up where you’re at based off the sounds of the streets, do you?”

Jack huffed. “Well I was trying to, but you guys keep interrupting my ears with all your insistent chatting.”

Nick, walking next to the rabbit, leaned his arm lightly on top of his head. “Give it up, Stripes, you’re not gonna be able to guess with a blindfold on, even a super spy wouldn’t be able to tell with all this noise.”

“Well, I can at least tell it’s in down town, but I hope you guys aren’t just taking me to some restaurant; I had some good food already ready to cook.”

“We wouldn’t be blindfolding you if it was a restaurant, you know.” A softer, female voice said to Jack’s side. “Besides, we don’t even know anything about this place, were just hoping that our second resident fox here knows where this place is.”

Nick grinned as he adjusted his jacket. “I know this place like the back of my hand, don’t you worry; in fact, we should be there any minute now.”

Jack let out a loud hum as he tried to contemplate where they would take him that would be so much of a surprise. “How did you guys even convince Nick of this without yourselves knowing where this place is? What could be so special about going here that I would need to be blindfolded?”

A cackle could be heard behind Jack. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see, it’s called a surprise for a reason, after all.”

Eventually Jack was suddenly halted as the gang of mammals around them stopped, and even though he couldn’t see anything, he could somehow tell they were all wearing a wide smile.

“Alright fluff, we’re here.”

Nick yanked off Jack’s blindfold as the rabbit finally got a look of where they were at. And to his surprise he saw a giant, neon lite sign that simply said the words ‘The Watering Hole’. Despite the grins of his companions surrounding him, the rabbit could only blink in confusion.

“Why are we…”

But then something suddenly clicked in his mind as he thought about the situation. Nick’s smile had a particularly mischievous look to it, and to some extent so did Uriel’s.

Roxy’s grin widened as she looked at some realization spread across Jack’s face. “Finally getting the picture yet? Sure, we could take you to some fancy restaurant to show our gratitude or buy you a gift, but with your money it wouldn’t mean too much beyond that. You don’t need more things in your life, Jackie, what you need is another mammal.”

Uriel grabbed Jack’s shoulder with a rough grip. “Jack, you’re a great friend and all, and I like you, but It’s of the decision of this whole team that it’s time for you to at least attempt to get some action here. I don’t think any of us here are the one for yah, but somewhere out there is that someone you’ll be able to rely on no matter what… or at the very least, you could just fuck some doe and get it over with.”

Zeke only let out a light cackle as Nick walked in front of Jack, crossing his arms with a smug grin as Jack looked up at him in slight annoyance.

“Come on, Stripes, don’t you think it’s time you found a real partner? And what better place than The Watering Hole in downtown on a weekend.”

But before Jack could even quip, Roxy started to immediately push the rabbit inside the door. “Alright I think we’ve wasted enough time hogging up the entrance, let’s go inside already!”

\---

Nick leaned against the bar table as he took a sip of his cocktail. From a small distance was Uriel, talking with Jack about dating and something about being his wingman. As expected, Jack was completely dejected at the thought of even talking to another mammal tonight, but Uriel wasn’t letting up. Though for some reason, Nick couldn’t see where Zeke or-

“Enjoying the view?”

  
Nick quickly restrained himself from almost jumping as he looked to his left and saw Roxy, smiling with a drink in her hand and still wearing her partially blinding glittered black dress, still somehow managing to too blend in with the neon lite room.

“The view of what? Uriel failing to convince Jack to do anything?”

Roxy let out a small giggle as she leaned on the table next to Nick. “Well, something like that I guess, maybe it was the wrong figure of speech. But regardless, even though you were the one that suddenly suggested this idea to us today, I couldn’t help but get a feeling that you didn’t think it would work anyways.”

As expected, the vixen had sharp eyes and good intuition, something probably honed not just from being on the street as a child, but from her job.

Nick gave her a relaxed smile in return. “You can chalk that out at more so being uncertain, I think. Jack’s a great guy, and I do think he maybe needs to open up more, but it’s hard to say if coming here, even with you guys, will be the exact shove he needs.”

Of course, in reality, Nick was doing this as a way of pushing the rabbit’s buttons. Perhaps it was a little petty and revengeful, but the other reason for the decision was to maybe further get into that rabbit’s thick head not to be so secretive. If he were like Judy, he would have already opened up a lot more then he has by now.

Nick let out a slight sigh as Rocky looked at him curiously.

“So… if you were so unsure, why do this at all?”

Nick, pushing pack his emotions, looked back up at Roxy with another smile. “Let’s just leave it at I have my own reasons, for now.”

“Hmm, is that so…” Roxy said with a tinge of curiosity before standing back up from the bar, still looking over at Nick. “…follow me for a second, I want to show you something.”

Nick looked back at Roxy, but before even saying anything, found himself being suddenly dragged from the arm somewhere.

“Wah, hey! Wait a second, Roxy!”

But without even sparing a word, the vixen with still a little bit of grace dragged Nick inside a seemingly random door, threw him inside and shut it behind them.

Nick looked around at the room as he re-oriented himself; it seemed to be some kind of private guest room with a couch, but nobody but the two of them were here.

Nick quickly put his attention back at the vixen, however. “What the hell was that about! And why are we here?”

Roxy’s gave Nick a neutral expression. “It’s just the private lounge to this place, anyone that understands the layout of most buildings and bars like this could easily guess that. But more importantly, I want to know why you are here when your in heat?”

Nick’s face went partially red as he realized she knew. But the minute he heard this question, he felt like face palming himself; of course another vixen would know when a fox is in heat. They could easily detect the smell on any male of the same species, and would know the general dates it starts to happen.

“What… what do you mean, why? It’s just part of being a fox, and what does that have to do with anything!?”

Roxy crossed her arms, but at the same time put a smug grin on her face. “I have the feeling that it’s related to the true reason you came to this bar. I noticed it the minute we shook each other’s hands once I was close enough to smell you, but had no reason to mention it, of course. But coupled with your strange eagerness to go to the bar despite seeming to know it probably wouldn’t help Jack to really get out more, I think I understand now. While all of us are staying at Jack’s place with you there, you probably wouldn’t get a chance to find someone to mate with for the whole weekend, and maybe not even a good chance to masturbate, right?”

Nick cocked his eyebrow at Roxy. “Uhm, yeah I suppose so… but why even-“

Roxy went up to Nick, and, without a single moment of hesitation, roughly grabbed Nick’s crotch. His body naturally reacted to it and Nick could immediately feel heat rise up inside himself as a more noticeable blush grew on his face.

“Woah, hey! Hold on a second!”

Roxy giggled. “Sorry, I’m a straight forward kind of girl.  I think my actions should speak for what I want to do.  And don’t worry, this isn’t some commitment, I didn’t even think of doing something like this with you until I found out everything you were really doing.  I haven’t had much action myself in a while, so rather than stay blue balled for a week or hoping to get some other vixen, why not just have a little fun with me?”

As if thinking Nick would already accept her proposal, the Vixen pushed Nick on top of the couch and started gently caressing his groin more.

“Aah, I said, hold up a second! L-Look, I’m trying to tell you, you’ve got it all wrong!”

\---

Jack groaned as he laid his head on the bar with a drink in his right hand, barley having taken a sip of it. Uriel went up next to Jack and shook her head.

“You aren’t going to get anyone with that kind of annoyed attitude, you know.  That girl even had a bit of interest in you, you know… you might have been able to get a number?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I have no interest in doing this! You guys just pushed this on me randomly as if it were some ‘gift’.”

Caught up in his frustrations, Jack ignored Uriel’s piercing gaze as he took a large sip of his drink as she spoke up again.

“You know, in the past you had given me the impression that you wouldn’t mind being able to find that something special or whatever the hell you call it, but you’re really not into that anymore, are you? What the hell happened sense our last meet up for you to be so against even just getting a number?”

Jack let out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t stay the same rabbit forever, I don’t have an interest in forcing myself to socialize like that anymore…”

  _I don’t need to do that anymore._ Jack thought to himself.

 Sitting up from the bar, Jack lazily scanned the room looking for his other partners and noticed a fox’s hand close a door off to the side.

Jack stared at it for a moment before speaking up. “…Hey Uriel, where did Nick and Roxy go?”

Uriel ears peaked at his words as she started looking around the place. “Hmm, don’t know, but Zeke is still on the dance floor; though he still doesn’t know how to swing for the life of him…”

Not giving much mind to Uriel’s words, the rabbit started walking up towards the door. With a swift motion, he opened it up expecting to see either Roxy or Nick, and hoping it was Nick.

“Hey Nick, are you…”

The two foxes looked over at the door in surprise as they saw Jack staring at them. Roxy was holding onto Nick’s crotch on top of him on the couch as Nick himself held on a slight blush.

“J-Jack!” Nick shouted out in response as Roxy only smiled.

“Oh, it’s just you. Looks like I forgot to lock the door… do you mind leaving the two of us? I think I’d be better if we did something outside of the hou-“

“Roxy, get the hell out of here!”

Jack shouted in an authoritative voice, quickly putting away Roxy’s smirk as she looked at him in surprise. “Jack I… It’s just-

“Now!”

There was a slight pause in the room as Roxy hesitated on what to do. But eventually her instincts kicked in at remembering Jack as her boss at one point, and quickly went off of Nick and scurried towards the door. She looked back for a second before leaving.

“We’ll maybe finish this another time, Nick.”

And before she could get yelled out she quickly shut the door. Jack let out a groan and pushed his fingers against his temples as Nick sat up and desperately tried to reconcile the situation.

“W-Wait a second, Jack, It’s not-“

“I know it’s not what it seems, Nick!”

Jack yelled out, still fairly angry. “I know the type of girl that vixen is and I was hoping she wouldn’t come on to you like this, but to think she would be so god damn bold about it, uuggh!”

Jack turned away from Nick still fuming as he tried calming himself down.

Nick looked at the rabbit baffled at his response.  “So… wait, are you… not mad at me?”

“No, I’m not mad at you. I know you wouldn’t do something like this, I already pegged down what kind of mammal you are by this point, and Roxy doesn’t know about our relationship or know any better.”

Nick cocked his eyebrow out. “Then… why are you still angry?”

“I don’t know!”

Jack plopped himself down on the other side of the couch next to Nick, staring down at the ground as some of his fumes seemed to cool down.

Nick looked over at the rabbit for a second, and he didn’t seem very keen on moving. There were a lot of things Nick could have done at this point; knowing his anger wasn’t directed at him, he could simply get close to him and wrap an arm around him hoping he wasn’t to volatile: He could apologize anyways even though Jack seemed to get the situation and try to talk it out, he could give Jack some advice, ask him what he’s thinking…

But instead, Nick said nothing. Almost like his mouth was too dry to talk, no words or thoughts came to his mind, and silence entered the room with only a distant thumping sound from the music outside. It was awkward, tense, and probably wasn’t the right decision to do, but Nick still couldn’t say anything.

And in this strange silent moment between the two, an invisible wall erected between the both of them in the middle of the couch; Nick could tangibly feel that something was indeed wrong. When he thought about it, he couldn’t say something technically awful about their relationship. Jack was too secretive sometimes, a little up tight, but often genuine when it mattered… the nicks between them were light and easy to ignore when he thought about it in a more logical manner.

So why? Why did he feel this why? Why did he feel so… unsatisfied? It doesn’t feel like enough, his relationship with Jack is missing something, and he wants whatever it is. He can visibly see it now, it’s keeping a wall between them, and it’s stopping himself from truly being able to enjoy being with Jack. The cause of this situation right now had nothing to do with the moment with Rocky earlier, it was just them.

 “…Hey, Nick.”

Breaking the silence, Jack spoke up again.

“If you want, you can go home for the weekend. You still have your place, so you don’t have to deal with hanging out at my place with all my friends over if you don’t want to. Maybe it would be for the best anyways.”

Nick could feel a light cold sweat break out on his face. The strange part was, a part of him didn’t find that idea to be bad. Maybe it would be better to just go home and forget about this situation, he kind of wanted to. But he wanted to yell at himself for even thinking of that thought too, like it was the worst possible thing he could agree to at this exact moment. He needed to do something right now, but leaving wasn’t the answer. If he did what Jack said now…

He could feel it.

The cold, chilling embrace of the slums breathing down his neck. The part of his life he had practically thrown away as if it were trash was whispering him in his ear, yearning him back. The feeling of coldness and loneliness he felt from being a part of that life, and a slight depression that inevitably followed it.

It’s not as if going home would necessarily end his relationship with Jack completely, or by any means even get rid of his job or security, yet he could feel it just the same. He could feel the same pit fall trying to drag him away from any friends and sever all ties of relationship from him with a simple snap.

He didn’t know what the right way forward right now was, but he had the feeling that if he didn’t do something, the ground below him would crumble anyways. But what was it? What did he need to do?

Nick’s ears started to suddenly twitch as he heard the sound of Jack getting up from the couch. He looked over at the Bunny and saw a sad, dejected look on his face as he did so. And so without thinking, Nick instantly stood up and grabbed at his wrist.

Jack looked back at Nick with slight surprise as the fox looked at him with a determined face.

“Don’t leave yet, Jack.”

The rabbit looked at Nick with a neutral expression as the fox continued.

“…The reason Roxy acted the way she did today was because I’m in heat.”

Jack’s ears perked and his face lite up in both surprise and shock as he heard Nick suddenly mention that.”

“Huh? You’ve been in… heat?”

Nick nodded. “She only acted out because she could tell I’m in the middle of heat, she even thought I used an excuse to come here just to get laid. In fact, I’ve been in heat for a few days now.”

Jack looked off to the side awkwardly. “…Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because I… well, I didn’t want you to feel forced into having sex with me despite the fact I wanted to… I wanted it to be of your own volition…”

Jack gave Nick a serious look. “…Why are you telling me this right now?”

Nick looked down at the ground feeling somewhat embarrassed. “I uh, don’t know really… I just felt like I should.”

“…Hey Nick.”

Nick looked up at Jack only to find Jack over by the door locking it. And without hesitation afterward, Jack quickly walked up to Nick, put his paw around his head, and started making out with him.

Nick’s ears perked up in surprise at the sudden tongue intrusion, but didn’t feel shocked enough to want to push him away for questioning.

Jack quickly ended the somewhat sloppy kiss and looked up at the fox with a strangely determined expression; the fox’s ears lowering and a light blush showing up on his face in response.

“Nick… let’s stop thinking for once in our life. It’s just the two of us now… let’s just follow our instincts.”

Jack closed his eyes and began to caress and tease nick's body with a few licks, and the fox felt a bulge in his pants began to form immediately in response.  The idea was almost out of nowhere, and he had multiple reservations in his head telling him not to go through with it, but his body was on the other end of the spectrum. He was tense, but very much enjoying the bunny's teasing and sudden sensual body language.  A part of Nick not only wanted this, but to some extent, was even telling him he needed it. And after everything that had just happened before this sudden moment of intimacy, the fox felt tired of thinking too. So tired of feeling anxious about their relationship, tired of trying to figure out whats wrong, and tired of his own thoughts in general.

Responding immediately, the fox stood up more in his seat and grabbed the back of Jack’s head, roughly making out with him once again with a slight fever as the rabbit made no attempt of resistance. He pushed aside his logic and let himself go.

There was no more room for thinking now, only space for release, and forgetfulness.


End file.
